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

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

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on SFBS. Hovde Group raised 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 0.6 %

SFBS stock opened at $93.25 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.73. ServisFirst Bancshares has a twelve month low of $49.72 and a twelve month high of $100.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 32.09%.

Insider Activity

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value 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 approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,036,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.