Investment management company First Pacific Advisors recently released its “FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, the fund returned 2.38% compared to a -1.06 % return for the Russell 2000 Value Index. For the full year, the fund returned 10.76% compared to an 8.05% return for the index. The firm’s focus is on long-term performance, aiming to outperform the Russell 2000 Value Index with less risk throughout the entire market cycle. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund emphasized stocks such as ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS). ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) is a bank holding company for ServisFirst Bank that offers various banking services. The one-month return of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) was -6.33%, and its shares gained 35.70% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 4, 2025, ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) stock closed at $87.46 per share with a market capitalization of $4.774 billion.
FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) is a conservatively run lending franchise helmed by Tom Broughton. Tom hires local bankers but doesn’t build branches – this allows for best-in-class efficiency metrics while maintaining a strong and conservative lending culture. Return on equity (ROE) and average earnings per share growth were near 20% for the 10 years through 2023 – very attractive for a conservative, plain vanilla commercial lender.26 SFBS’s share price declined significantly with other regional banks in 2023 as rising rates put pressure on deposit pricing, NIMs (net interest margins), and ROE (return on equity). Shares are up since the depth of regional banking crisis, and during the Q1 2024 and Q2 2024 earnings calls, management said that NIM is improving as loan growth re accelerates and the asset side of their balance sheet reprices higher.”
A customer smiling as he signs a consumer loan agreement in a regional bank branch.
ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 19 hedge fund portfolios held ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 15 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) and shared FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.