ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Rating Lowered to "Outperform" at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James downgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from “strong buy” to “outperform,” while maintaining a $45 price target—indicating roughly 13.7% potential upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with four Buy ratings and one Hold rating producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.
• ServisFirst met quarterly earnings expectations with $0.78 EPS and reported $168.53 million in revenue; institutional investors own approximately 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Raymond James Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $45.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.71% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.50.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $39.57 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $42.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.97. ServisFirst Bancshares has a twelve month low of $33.60 and a twelve month high of $46.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78. The firm had revenue of $168.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.85 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 30.95% and a return on equity of 17.42%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 686.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.8% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 38,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 4,683 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 26.3% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 152,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,226,000 after purchasing an additional 31,764 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for ServisFirst Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 2005, the company provides banking services primarily to businesses, professionals, and individuals through a relationship-focused operating model.

ServisFirst Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash-management and treasury services, online and mobile banking, mortgage lending, and wealth-management solutions.

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