Champlain Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,312,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 67,568 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 2.41% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $111,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 761.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFBS. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $96.00 to $84.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SFBS traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.98. The stock had a trading volume of 188,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,674. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.20. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.43 and a twelve month high of $101.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $131.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.13 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. ServisFirst Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 32.21%.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

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.