Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 929,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,125 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.71% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $58,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.9% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,290,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 30,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.7% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.3% during the first quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 101,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,791,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SFBS. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SFBS traded up $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 131,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 198,312. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.21 and a fifty-two week high of $83.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.89.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.04. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 21.25%. The company had revenue of $114.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.80 million. As a group, research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.88%.

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.