Davis Asset Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Davis Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 875,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 111,814 shares during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares comprises 2.3% of Davis Asset Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Davis Asset Management L.P. owned about 1.60% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $62,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFBS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in 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 worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 worth $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $82.56 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.88. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.20 and a fifty-two week high of $90.64.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFBS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.33.

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.