ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS Stock: Welch Group LLC Raises Holdings

Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 96.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,885,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 925,380 shares during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares makes up 2.6% of Welch Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $75,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth about $54,879,000. Navigate Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $932,000. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 30,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 15,155 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $718,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 93.6% in the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 12,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SFBS. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServisFirst Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.50.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $40.22 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.99 and a 200-day moving average of $40.79. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.60 and a 12 month high of $46.04. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.92.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $172.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.13 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 32.53% and a return on equity of 17.66%. On average, equities analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.28%.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Its principal subsidiary, ServisFirst Bank, provides commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals.

The bank offers deposit accounts, commercial and residential real estate lending, business loans, treasury management, private banking, mortgage services and wealth management. It emphasizes relationship-based banking and serves clients through banking offices and digital channels.

Founded in 2005, ServisFirst Bank has expanded beyond Alabama into markets including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.