ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Piper Sandler Analyst Says

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Piper Sandler from $95.00 to $96.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SFBS traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $90.60. 100,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 220,003. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.45. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52-week low of $58.05 and a 52-week high of $101.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. This is an increase from ServisFirst Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.21%.

Institutional Trading of ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,053,473 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $89,277,000 after acquiring an additional 15,916 shares during the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $347,000. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 947,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,280,000 after purchasing an additional 112,521 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by 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.