Norges Bank Takes $47.91 Million Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 667,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,908,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 70.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,730 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 107.3% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 146,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,096,000 after acquiring an additional 75,799 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the first quarter worth $204,000. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $78.23 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.07. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $67.20 and a one year high of $90.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.88.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 28.80%.The business had revenue of $158.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.07 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research cut ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $94.33.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and the parent of ServisFirst Bank. The company specializes in commercial banking services, catering primarily to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and entrepreneurs. Its product portfolio encompasses commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, deposit accounts, treasury management and other ancillary banking products designed to meet the financial needs of its clients.

ServisFirst Bank offers a full suite of deposit products, including interest-bearing checking, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan products.