ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.3333.

Several analysts have weighed in on SFBS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $75.56 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.46. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.90. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 12-month low of $67.20 and a 12-month high of $90.64.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $158.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.07 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 28.80% and a return on equity of 16.95%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of ServisFirst Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 214.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 523.6% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 105.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

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.