Raymond James Financial Upgrades ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) to Outperform

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a "market perform" to an "outperform" rating, setting a price target of $95.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.36% from its previous close.
• CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares of the company for approximately $1.95 million, reflecting a 3.61% decrease in his ownership.
• Multiple analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.00, following recent revisions by Piper Sandler and Zacks Research.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $95.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock. Raymond James Financial's price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.36% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

SFBS stock opened at $82.35 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.53. ServisFirst Bancshares has a twelve month low of $66.48 and a twelve month high of $101.37.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total value of $1,953,905.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 592,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,141,818.12. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,902,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $487,525,000 after buying an additional 187,715 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 15.7% during the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,566,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $198,932,000 after acquiring an additional 349,177 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 25.1% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,072,614 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $88,598,000 after purchasing an additional 214,879 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 762,392 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,093,000 after purchasing an additional 47,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company's stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

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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