ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Stock Rating Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SFBS. Wall Street Zen cut ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $39.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.91. 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 50 day simple moving average of $41.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.17. ServisFirst Bancshares has a one year low of $33.60 and a one year high of $46.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $172.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.13 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 32.53%. Research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 24.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

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

The bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and residential real estate lending, business loans, treasury management, private banking, mortgage services and wealth management. It emphasizes relationship-based banking and serves clients through banking offices and digital channels.

Founded in 2005, ServisFirst Bank has expanded beyond Alabama into markets including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.