ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Hovde Group raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Piper Sandler raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $89.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ServisFirst Bancshares has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

SFBS stock opened at $81.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.95 and its 200-day moving average is $77.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.96. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1 year low of $66.48 and a 1 year high of $93.90.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.20. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $162.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.82 million. Equities research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.38 dividend. 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 yield of 1.9%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 30.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 105.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company 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.