Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Stock Price

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) had its price target raised by Piper Sandler from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on SFBS. Hovde Group lifted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $92.02 on Tuesday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 12-month low of $58.05 and a 12-month high of $101.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 35.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,126,000 after buying an additional 23,555 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 411.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2,704.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 415,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,428,000 after purchasing an additional 400,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 766.1% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 7,630 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.