Welch Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Welch Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,035,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 103,615 shares during the period. ServisFirst Bancshares makes up approximately 4.0% of Welch Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Welch Group LLC owned about 1.90% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $88,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SFBS. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in 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. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 2.5 %

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $88.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26 and a beta of 0.91. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.05 and a 1-year high of $101.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.73. 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 (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.335 dividend. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company 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.