ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded at Hovde Group

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) was upgraded by Hovde Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $89.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Hovde Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.93% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research cut ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.00.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:SFBS opened at $72.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.94. ServisFirst Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $66.48 and a fifty-two week high of $93.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.94.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 10th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $104.27 million for the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 15.67%. As a group, research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ServisFirst Bancshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFBS. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 68.9% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,217,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,153,000 after acquiring an additional 904,445 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $47,309,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 231.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 326,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,323,000 after purchasing an additional 228,187 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 962,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,483,000 after purchasing an additional 199,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 667,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,776,000 after buying an additional 160,465 shares during the period. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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.