Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,994 shares during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares makes up approximately 1.1% of Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SFBS. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $84,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SFBS shares. Hovde Group lifted their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 2.0 %

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $87.83 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.56. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.05 and a 52 week high of $101.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.335 dividend. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 35.83%.

ServisFirst Bancshares Profile

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ServisFirst Bank that provides various banking services to individual and corporate customers. It accepts demand, time, savings, and other deposits; checking, money market, and IRA accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include commercial lending products, including seasonal, bridge, and term loans for working capital, expansion of the business, acquisition of property, and plant and equipment, as well as commercial lines of credit; commercial real estate loans, construction and development loans, and residential real estate loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans, vehicle financing, loans secured by deposits, and secured and unsecured personal loans.