49 Wealth Management LLC Invests $498,000 in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

49 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,101 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the first quarter valued at about $31,495,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Simmons First National by 9,443.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,395,980 shares of the bank's stock worth $24,541,000 after buying an additional 1,381,353 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 6.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,323,934 shares of the bank's stock worth $128,752,000 after acquiring an additional 413,459 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National by 104.6% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 376,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,610,000 after acquiring an additional 192,200 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 28.0% during the second quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 705,138 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,396,000 after acquiring an additional 154,128 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.84. The company had a trading volume of 154,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,580. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50-day moving average price is $22.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Simmons First National Co. has a one year low of $15.72 and a one year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $203.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,391.50. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 in the last quarter. 1.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SFNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

About Simmons First National

Simmons First National Corporation operates as the holding company for Simmons Bank that provides banking and other financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposits; consumer, real estate, and commercial loans; agricultural finance, equipment, and small business administration lending; trust and fiduciary services; credit cards; investment management products; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services.