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

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.6667.

Several equities analysts have commented on SFBS shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $89.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.0%

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $79.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $80.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.52. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1-year low of $66.48 and a 1-year high of $90.64.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.36% and a net margin of 26.95%.The business had revenue of $162.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.82 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 523.6% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 105.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.