ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SFBS. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Hovde Group increased their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE SFBS traded down $2.13 on Tuesday, hitting $96.61. 232,062 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 203,280. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83 and a beta of 0.86. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52-week low of $46.06 and a 52-week high of $100.14.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total transaction of $966,960.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at $724,285.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SFBS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after buying an additional 6,964 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $271,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $336,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.