ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

SFBS has been the topic of several other research reports. Hovde Group upped their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of SFBS opened at $83.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.72. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 12-month low of $58.05 and a 12-month high of $101.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 0.91.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 35.83%.

Insider Activity at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter worth $84,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company 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.