BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 21.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,804 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,036,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 43,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In related news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $966,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,805,505.46. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $724,285.20. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SFBS opened at $94.46 on Tuesday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.83 and a 12-month high of $101.37. The firm has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26 and a beta of 0.88. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.66.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced 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. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 32.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SFBS. StockNews.com lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.