Strs Ohio Buys Shares of 3,700 ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 3,700 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, valued around $306,000, marking a new investment in the company during the first quarter.
• ServisFirst Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.335 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.6%, set to be paid on October 10th.
• CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares of the company at an average price of $87.99, reducing his ownership stake by 3.61%.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 7.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,581,000 after purchasing an additional 11,194 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 21,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the first quarter valued at approximately $991,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,056,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,298,000 after acquiring an additional 3,405 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE SFBS opened at $83.27 on Wednesday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.48 and a 12-month high of $101.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 0.89.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $132.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.26 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 24.62%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total value of $1,953,905.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 592,588 shares in the company, valued at $52,141,818.12. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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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