ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. Raymond James Financial currently has $95.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Hovde Group raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS opened at $87.36 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $66.48 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.82.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $162.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.82 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 16.66%. As a group, equities analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 39,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,839,000 after purchasing an additional 4,067 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 600.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 76,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,473,000 after purchasing an additional 65,349 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 26.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 962,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,483,000 after purchasing an additional 199,772 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $443,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

More ServisFirst Bancshares News

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

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.