Norges Bank Takes Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 667,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,908,000. Norges Bank owned 1.22% of ServisFirst Bancshares as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFBS. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 523.6% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SFBS opened at $78.23 on Monday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.20 and a 1 year high of $90.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $77.00 and its 200-day moving average is $77.07. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.88.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $158.99 million for 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%. Equities analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 6.4 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFBS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. 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. Hovde Group boosted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ServisFirst Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $94.33.

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.