Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Cuts Stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lessened its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. ServisFirst Bancshares makes up about 1.4% of Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. owned about 0.14% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $6,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,398,000 after buying an additional 4,362 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,230,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,775,000 after acquiring an additional 36,302 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,984,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Hovde Group raised their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $89.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.05 and a 12-month high of $101.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.07.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $120.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. This is an increase from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 35.83%.

Insider Activity at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.