ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Rating Increased to Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. Piper Sandler currently has $89.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Hovde Group raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 14.4%

NYSE:SFBS opened at $87.36 on Wednesday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52 week low of $66.48 and a 52 week high of $93.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $162.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.82 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.66% and a net margin of 26.95%. Research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 30.04%.

Institutional Trading of ServisFirst Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $1,541,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.8% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 11,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 153,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,884,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $892,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 514,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,409,000 after purchasing an additional 48,993 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about ServisFirst Bancshares

Here are the key news stories impacting ServisFirst Bancshares this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and strong financials — SFBS reported Q4 EPS of $1.58 (beating consensus), revenue above estimates, a 3.38% net interest margin, improved efficiency and a raised cash dividend; management highlighted loan and deposit growth and strong liquidity. ServisFirst Q4 press release
• Positive Sentiment: Loan growth and margin expansion are driving higher earnings — loans grew ~$385M in Q4 (12% annualized) and NIM expanded ~42 bps year-over-year, aided by disciplined loan pricing and lower deposit costs. This underpins higher forward earnings potential. SFBS Q4 deep dive
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades lift the story — Raymond James moved SFBS to “strong-buy” ($95 PT) and Piper Sandler to “overweight” ($89 PT), signaling broker confidence in near-term upside and validating the quarter. Analyst coverage roundup
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish investor write-ups point to durable fundamentals — commentary (e.g., Seeking Alpha) emphasizes relationship-driven lending, margin tailwinds and disciplined expense control as reasons to prefer SFBS among regionals. Why ServisFirst remains preferred
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call/color confirms strategy — management reiterated focus on NIM expansion, expense discipline and growth in Texas; these are operational details that support continued execution but contain no new guidance shock. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Asset-quality deterioration — non-performing assets rose to ~0.97% (from 0.26% y/y) with $5M of Q4 charge-offs and a modestly higher provision; investors will watch for further credit stress as loans grow. Q4 earnings summary with credit details
• Negative Sentiment: Higher tax expense and an insider sale — Q4 effective tax rate rose and income tax expense increased materially; also the CEO sold ~22k shares recently, which some investors view as a modest negative signal. Insider and tax notes

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.