Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 9.5% in Q3, selling 17,550 shares and now holds 167,750 shares worth $13.51M, while institutional investors own about 67.31% of the company.
• ServisFirst beat expectations last quarter with EPS $1.58 vs. $1.38 consensus and revenue of $162.2M, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, ~2.0% yield).
• Analysts are largely positive—average rating is Buy with a consensus target of $93.67—while the stock trades near $74.88, with a market cap of $4.09B and a P/E of 14.8.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 167,750 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,550 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.31% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $13,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 5,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,507 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 34,186 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,753,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 14,510 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.1%

SFBS stock opened at $74.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.91. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.48 and a 52 week high of $90.64. The company's 50-day moving average price is $80.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 16.36%. The company had revenue of $162.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.82 million. On average, research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This is an increase from ServisFirst Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.67.

ServisFirst Bancshares Profile

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.

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