The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 219 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,714,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,249,000 after acquiring an additional 25,956 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,053,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,277,000 after purchasing an additional 15,916 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 857,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,684,000 after buying an additional 442,225 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $47,456,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SFBS opened at $74.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.18. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.51 and a fifty-two week high of $101.37. The company has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 0.83.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. The company had revenue of $131.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $96.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

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.