Barclays PLC Purchases 140,738 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 131.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,821 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 140,738 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Simmons First National worth $5,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SFNC. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 113,111.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 82,644 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 82,571 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 2nd quarter valued at $479,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 6.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Simmons First National by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,922,000 after purchasing an additional 27,479 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the second quarter worth about $269,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens upgraded Simmons First National from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Simmons First National has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 over the last three months. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.49. The stock had a trading volume of 3,138,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 556,294. 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 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 0.86. The business's 50-day moving average is $23.89 and its 200 day moving average is $21.16.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $203.20 million for 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

Simmons First National Profile

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.