ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $90.49 and last traded at $90.49, with a volume of 240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFBS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 2.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.51. The firm has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05 and a beta of 0.86.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.09%.

Insider Activity 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 value of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $24,805,505.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFBS. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 43,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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.