ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.6667.

SFBS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $45.50 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $41.98 on Tuesday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 12 month low of $33.60 and a 12 month high of $46.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.76. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30 and a beta of 0.85.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 30.95% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The company had revenue of $168.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.85 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 25.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth $54,879,000. Navigate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $932,000. Jacobs Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,179,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,056,000. Finally, Davis Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 875,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,843,000 after buying an additional 111,814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Its principal subsidiary, ServisFirst Bank, provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals.

ServisFirst Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash and treasury management, online and mobile banking, mortgage services, and wealth management solutions. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, construction, commercial and industrial, residential mortgage and consumer loans.

Founded in 2005, ServisFirst Bancshares has expanded its banking operations across several Southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.