Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 553 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $2,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2,704.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 415,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,428,000 after buying an additional 400,694 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,507,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 112,521 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,466,000 after purchasing an additional 108,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 708,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,983,000 after purchasing an additional 83,804 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $89.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.18. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 0.91.

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

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. This is a positive change 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%.

Insider Activity at ServisFirst Bancshares

In related news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.