CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 40,099 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lessened its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 54.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,555 shares of the bank's stock after selling 40,099 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Simmons First National were worth $744,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SFNC. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,992,851 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,478,000 after purchasing an additional 37,519 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,866,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,197,000 after purchasing an additional 65,992 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,565,000 after acquiring an additional 170,821 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 339,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,305,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SFNC. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Simmons First National stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.92. 622,286 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 577,863. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.86. Simmons First National Co. has a 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95. The business's 50-day moving average is $22.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.2125 dividend. This is a boost from Simmons First National's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Simmons First National news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total transaction of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 over the last three months. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.