ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Given New $97.00 Price Target at Hovde Group

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) had its target price hoisted by Hovde Group from $92.00 to $97.00 in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

SFBS has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ServisFirst Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $93.67.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SFBS traded down $4.97 on Friday, reaching $80.82. 403,715 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 276,791. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. ServisFirst Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $66.48 and a fifty-two week high of $93.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.94.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $162.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.82 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 16.36%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 307,426.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 919,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,011,000 after buying an additional 919,206 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,908,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 15.7% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,566,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,932,000 after acquiring an additional 349,177 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 231.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 326,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,323,000 after acquiring an additional 228,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 26.2% during 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 during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.