Welch Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Welch Group LLC lowered its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 975,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,572 shares during the period. ServisFirst Bancshares makes up approximately 2.7% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Welch Group LLC owned approximately 1.79% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $71,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position 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 valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 7,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $88.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.88. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.20 and a 52-week high of $90.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $158.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.07 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 28.80% and a return on equity of 16.95%. Analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.4 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFBS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Hovde Group increased their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ServisFirst Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.33.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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.