Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 25,481 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 195.3%, owning approximately 0.07% of the company, valued at about $2.99 million.
• ServisFirst Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.335, representing an annualized yield of 1.6%, with the payment scheduled for October 10th.
• Piper Sandler raised their price target for ServisFirst Bancshares from $84.00 to $90.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 195.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 25,481 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.07% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $2,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,581,000 after buying an additional 11,194 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.0% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the first quarter worth approximately $991,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,056,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,298,000 after purchasing an additional 3,405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $52,141,818.12. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, ServisFirst Bancshares presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.50.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFBS stock traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $82.96. 171,703 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,283. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.48 and a 52-week high of $101.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.17 and a 200 day moving average of $78.56. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 24.62%.The firm had revenue of $132.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. ServisFirst Bancshares's payout ratio is 29.32%.

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.