UBS Group AG Boosts Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,698 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $9,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 34,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 14,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SFBS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Hovde Group upped their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.33.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:SFBS opened at $74.82 on Friday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.20 and a 1 year high of $90.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.04 and a 200-day moving average of $76.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 28.80%.The company had revenue of $158.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $162.07 million. Equities analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and the parent of ServisFirst Bank. The company specializes in commercial banking services, catering primarily to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and entrepreneurs. Its product portfolio encompasses commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, deposit accounts, treasury management and other ancillary banking products designed to meet the financial needs of its clients.

ServisFirst Bank offers a full suite of deposit products, including interest-bearing checking, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, as well as a variety of loan products.