Wasatch Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 14.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 552,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,298 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $40,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 70.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after buying an additional 3,730 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,494,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 107.3% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 146,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,096,000 after buying an additional 75,799 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $88.41 on Friday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.20 and a 1 year high of $90.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.88.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 28.80%.The firm had revenue of $158.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $162.07 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFBS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $94.33.

ServisFirst Bancshares Profile

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and the parent of ServisFirst Bank. The company specializes in commercial banking services, catering primarily to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and entrepreneurs. Its product portfolio encompasses commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, deposit accounts, treasury management and other ancillary banking products designed to meet the financial needs of its clients.

ServisFirst Bank offers a full suite of deposit products, including interest-bearing checking, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan products.