ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Stock Has Average Price Target of $46.50 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Four of five covering firms rate ServisFirst Bancshares a buy, while one recommends selling; the average 12-month price target is $46.50.
• Recent ratings and targets were mixed: Raymond James and Piper Sandler lowered their price targets, while Zacks downgraded the stock to a strong sell.
• ServisFirst reported quarterly EPS of $0.80, below the $0.83 consensus estimate, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, equivalent to a 1.8% annualized yield.

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.50.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SFBS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen cut ServisFirst Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 30th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

SFBS stock opened at $41.52 on Wednesday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1 year low of $33.60 and a 1 year high of $46.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.84. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.92.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.03). ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 32.53%. The company had revenue of $172.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.13 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. ServisFirst Bancshares's payout ratio is 24.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $54,879,000. Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 96.4% during the 3rd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,885,113 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,367,000 after purchasing an additional 925,380 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 93.6% during the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 12,574 shares during the period. Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth $1,478,000. Finally, Smith Thornton Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 100.0% during the third quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 30,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 15,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company's stock.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Through its subsidiary, ServisFirst Bank, the company provides commercial and consumer banking services, with a focus on serving businesses, professionals and individuals. Its offerings include commercial and consumer loans, deposit accounts, treasury and cash-management services, and online and mobile banking. The bank also provides services such as wealth management and mortgage lending. Founded in 2005, ServisFirst Bank has expanded beyond Alabama into markets across the southeastern United States, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

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