ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 1.0 %

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $92.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52 week low of $49.72 and a 52 week high of $100.14.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.09%.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value 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. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $966,960.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. This trade represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ServisFirst Bancshares

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth $32,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.