Bank of Montreal Can Grows Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 48,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,230,000 after buying an additional 17,834 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 837,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,782,000 after purchasing an additional 40,866 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 408,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,478,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $365,008,000 after purchasing an additional 47,885 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $79.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 0.87. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.21 and a 52-week high of $86.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.28 and its 200 day moving average is $68.88.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $114.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.80 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 21.25%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was 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 owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SFBS. Piper Sandler increased their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

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.