ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.67.

A number of brokerages have commented on SFBS. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $45.50 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $41.27 on Tuesday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1 year low of $33.60 and a 1 year high of $46.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.39 and its 200-day moving average is $40.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.85.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 30.95% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The business had revenue of $168.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.85 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.94%.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Its principal subsidiary, ServisFirst Bank, provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals.

ServisFirst Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash and treasury management, online and mobile banking, mortgage services, and wealth management solutions. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, construction, commercial and industrial, residential mortgage and consumer loans.

Founded in 2005, ServisFirst Bancshares has expanded its banking operations across several Southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.