Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 106.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 857,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 442,225 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $72,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised 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 worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFBS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of SFBS opened at $85.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $88.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.71. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.11 and a twelve month high of $101.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.21%.

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.