ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 21.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,770 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $3,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $219,000. GTS Securities LLC acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $297,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.50.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 6.7%

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $88.3580 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.09. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.48 and a 52 week high of $101.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $132.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.26 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 24.62% and a return on equity of 15.47%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 29.32%.

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.