ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded 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 Tuesday.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $94.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.57. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32 and a beta of 0.86. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1-year low of $49.72 and a 1-year high of $100.14.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share. Analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,285.20. This trade represents a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total transaction of $966,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ServisFirst Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quest Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $84,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter worth $203,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.