ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS Holdings Raised by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC grew its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 983,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,618 shares during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares comprises approximately 3.1% of Welch Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $79,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.8% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 20.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the first quarter valued at $171,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

NYSE:SFBS opened at $74.31 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $66.48 and a one year high of $93.90.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 10th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $104.27 million during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.67% and a net margin of 25.24%. Research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SFBS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Hovde Group upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.