ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Hovde Group raised their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE SFBS opened at $85.64 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90 and a beta of 0.88. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52 week low of $58.05 and a 52 week high of $101.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $91.23 and a 200-day moving average of $80.68.

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. The firm had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 35.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% during the third 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 2nd quarter worth about $84,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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.