The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $2,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 761.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS opened at $74.62 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.18. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.51 and a fifty-two week high of $101.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.18 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $131.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.13 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.45%.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $96.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

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.