ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,203,487 shares, a growth of 101.5% from the August 15th total of 2,582,782 shares. Approximately 5.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 460,255 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 11.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $45.50 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $54,879,000. Navigate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the first quarter worth approximately $932,000. Jacobs Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $7,179,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $1,056,000. Finally, Davis Asset Management L.P. raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 875,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,843,000 after purchasing an additional 111,814 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of SFBS stock traded up $0.18 on Monday, reaching $42.31. 774,415 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 595,461. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.75. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52 week low of $33.60 and a 52 week high of $46.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.85.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 30.95%.The business had revenue of $168.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.85 million. As a group, analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Its principal subsidiary, ServisFirst Bank, provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals.

ServisFirst Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash and treasury management, online and mobile banking, mortgage services, and wealth management solutions. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, construction, commercial and industrial, residential mortgage and consumer loans.

Founded in 2005, ServisFirst Bancshares has expanded its banking operations across several Southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.