Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 34.0% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,438,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,484,000 after buying an additional 364,720 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,699,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,228,000 after acquiring an additional 221,507 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $10,507,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,181,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,466,000 after purchasing an additional 108,088 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $966,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at $24,805,505.46. This represents a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at $724,285.20. This trade represents a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $94.70 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32 and a beta of 0.86. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.72 and a 52 week high of $100.14.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company 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.