AlphaQuest LLC Cuts Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. $SFBS

AlphaQuest LLC lessened its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 41.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,856 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,390,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 70.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,730 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 107.3% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 146,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,096,000 after purchasing an additional 75,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 0.1%

SFBS opened at $81.97 on Friday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.48 and a 12-month high of $93.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $75.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.84.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.20. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $162.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.82 million. As a group, research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SFBS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Hovde Group raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $89.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $89.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ServisFirst Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.00.

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.