ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• ServisFirst Bancshares has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with a 1-year target price of $92.00.
• CEO Thomas A. Broughton sold 22,206 shares at an average price of $87.99, resulting in a 3.61% decrease in their stock position.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.335 per share, with a scheduled payment date of October 10th, representing a 1.6% yield.

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SFBS. Piper Sandler raised their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock 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 research report on Saturday, September 27th. Zacks Research downgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.8% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 544 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of SFBS traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.68. 19,401 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 232,124. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1 year low of $66.48 and a 1 year high of $101.37. The firm's fifty day moving average is $83.12 and its 200-day moving average is $78.53. 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 capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09 and a beta of 0.85.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $140.26 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 24.62%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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