ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Shares Purchased by Smith Thornton Advisors LLC

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,994 shares during the period. ServisFirst Bancshares makes up approximately 1.1% of Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,398,000 after acquiring an additional 4,362 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,230,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,775,000 after buying an additional 36,302 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $1,984,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 156,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,898,000 after buying an additional 46,469 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:SFBS opened at $87.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 0.91. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.05 and a 1-year high of $101.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $90.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.56.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.335 dividend. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,285.20. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SFBS shares. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Hovde Group upped their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.