ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS Holdings Cut by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management trimmed its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.3% in Q3, selling 66,671 shares and leaving it with 996,465 shares (about 1.82% of the company) valued at roughly $80.25 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded the stock (including Raymond James and Zacks), resulting in a MarketBeat consensus rating of Buy with a consensus target price of $93.67.
• ServisFirst recently beat quarterly estimates with $1.58 EPS versus $1.38 expected, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 (annualized $1.52, ~1.9% yield), and reports strong profitability metrics (net margin 26.95%, ROE 16.36%).

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 996,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 66,671 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.82% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $80,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 214.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 105.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial raised ServisFirst Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $89.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.67.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SFBS opened at $79.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm's 50 day moving average is $80.73 and its 200-day moving average is $78.52. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.48 and a 12-month high of $90.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $162.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.82 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 30.04%.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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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