Index Fund Advisors Inc. Makes New $892,000 Investment in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Key Points

• Index Fund Advisors Inc. invested approximately $892,000 in ServisFirst Bancshares, acquiring 11,505 shares in the second quarter of 2023.
• Several institutional investors, including SG Americas Securities LLC and Handelsbanken Fonder AB, have also made significant investments in ServisFirst Bancshares, indicating strong institutional interest.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.335 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.

Index Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $892,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SFBS. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $991,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.0% in the first quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 21,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,814,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 41.6% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,989 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 5,574 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFBS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 4.5%

NYSE:SFBS opened at $76.56 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $83.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.48 and a 52 week high of $101.37.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 10th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $104.27 million during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 24.62% and a return on equity of 15.47%. On average, research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total transaction of $1,953,905.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 592,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,141,818.12. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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