ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

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

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $97.24 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.50. The stock has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 0.86. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 12-month low of $49.72 and a 12-month high of $101.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,805,505.46. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $84,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $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.