Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 8,296 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 101.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,296 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SFBS. State Street Corp boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,377,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,241,000 after buying an additional 60,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,126,000 after acquiring an additional 23,555 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,053,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,277,000 after acquiring an additional 15,916 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,280,000 after acquiring an additional 112,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 857,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,684,000 after purchasing an additional 442,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $81.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.11. The stock has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.11 and a 12 month high of $101.37.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 32.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFBS. StockNews.com raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th.

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.