StockNews.com Upgrades ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) to “Hold”

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

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

SFBS stock opened at $93.62 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52-week low of $49.72 and a 52-week high of $100.14.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 32.09%.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $84,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $203,000. 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.