ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $91.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on SFBS. Raymond James Financial upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Hovde Group raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $85.57 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $76.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1-year low of $66.48 and a 1-year high of $93.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 0.94.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $162.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.82 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 16.36%. Equities analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 5,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 34,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

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.