ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,203,487 shares, an increase of 101.5% from the August 15th total of 2,582,782 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 460,255 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 11.3 days. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $42.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 774,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,461. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.75. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 12-month low of $33.60 and a 12-month high of $46.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.78. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 30.95%.The firm had revenue of $168.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.85 million. Analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFBS. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $54,879,000. Navigate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $932,000. Jacobs Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,179,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $1,056,000. Finally, Davis Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 875,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,843,000 after buying an additional 111,814 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $45.50 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Its principal subsidiary, ServisFirst Bank, provides banking and financial services to businesses, professionals and individuals.

ServisFirst Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, cash and treasury management, online and mobile banking, mortgage services, and wealth management solutions. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, construction, commercial and industrial, residential mortgage and consumer loans.

Founded in 2005, ServisFirst Bancshares has expanded its banking operations across several Southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.