ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $96.64 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.17. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 32.09%.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $966,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at $24,805,505.46. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors 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.