ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $90.49 and last traded at $90.49, with a volume of 240 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on 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 upped their price target 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.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.20. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.11 and a beta of 0.86.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $24,805,505.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, 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 value of $966,960.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction dated 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 $724,285.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2,704.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 415,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,428,000 after purchasing an additional 400,694 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,438,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,484,000 after acquiring an additional 364,720 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,699,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,228,000 after purchasing an additional 221,507 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,507,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.