ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Shares Pass Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $76.31 and traded as low as $75.41. ServisFirst Bancshares shares last traded at $75.4690, with a volume of 227,512 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFBS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial raised ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ServisFirst Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.33.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.34.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 214.1% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 523.6% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 105.1% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

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.