Welch Group LLC Lowers Stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

Welch Group LLC reduced its position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 975,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,572 shares during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares makes up about 2.7% of Welch Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $71,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 worth $77,483,000 after buying an additional 199,772 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 61.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 528,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,521,000 after acquiring an additional 201,309 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.1% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,696,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,130,000 after acquiring an additional 129,732 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 536,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,494,000 after acquiring an additional 21,994 shares during the period. Finally, BCR Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $610,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:SFBS opened at $88.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 0.88. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.20 and a 1 year high of $90.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFBS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Hovde Group upped their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.