ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• ServisFirst Bancshares currently has a consensus analyst rating of "Buy", with five analysts covered: one hold, three buy, and one strong buy. The average 1-year price target is $94.33.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.54 per share, beating estimates by a penny, though revenue of $158.99 million came in below expectations. Analysts now expect ServisFirst to earn $6.40 per share for the full fiscal year.
• ServisFirst announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, payable July 10, which annualizes to $1.52 and a 1.8% yield. Institutional ownership remains high, with 67.31% of shares held by institutional investors.

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $94.3333.

Several research firms recently commented on SFBS. Zacks Research downgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 523.6% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,195 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE SFBS opened at $84.06 on Thursday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a twelve month low of $67.20 and a twelve month high of $90.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $80.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.95.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 28.80%.The company had revenue of $158.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.07 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company 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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