Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Stock Price

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) had its price objective raised by Piper Sandler from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on SFBS. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS opened at $90.33 on Tuesday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 1 year low of $58.05 and a 1 year high of $101.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average is $84.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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.