WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New $1.06 Million Investment in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 14,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,056,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,908,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 61.6% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 528,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,521,000 after buying an additional 201,309 shares during the period. 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 worth $77,483,000 after buying an additional 199,772 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,081,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,623,000 after buying an additional 196,248 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 31.6% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 667,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,776,000 after buying an additional 160,465 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $94.33.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $79.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 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 quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.22.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced 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 company had revenue of $158.99 million for 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%. Research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

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.