Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,737 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFBS has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $83.86 on Wednesday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.11 and a 52-week high of $101.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.76 and its 200 day moving average is $87.13. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.21%.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 7.40% 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.