Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,536 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS opened at $91.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $101.37. The company has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFBS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

Insider Transactions at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,546,224.48. This represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Profile

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.