Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,081,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 196,248 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.14% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $436,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,696,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $217,130,000 after buying an additional 129,732 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 1,003,503 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,041,000 after acquiring an additional 19,727 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 26.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 962,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $77,483,000 after acquiring an additional 199,772 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 31.6% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 667,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,776,000 after acquiring an additional 160,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 536,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,494,000 after purchasing an additional 21,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $79.54 on Wednesday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $67.20 and a one year high of $90.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $158.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.07 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 28.80%. On average, analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.4 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SFBS. Zacks Research cut ServisFirst Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial raised ServisFirst Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.33.

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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