Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,536 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SFBS. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2,704.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 415,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,428,000 after purchasing an additional 400,694 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $10,507,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,280,000 after acquiring an additional 112,521 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,466,000 after acquiring an additional 108,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.4% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 708,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,983,000 after acquiring an additional 83,804 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of SFBS opened at $91.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $101.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $87.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 32.21%.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

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.