Cerity Partners LLC Takes $335,000 Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,222 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 692.4% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 221,855 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,921,000 after buying an additional 193,856 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,319 shares of the bank's stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 8,825 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 94,366 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,093,000 after acquiring an additional 13,174 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Simmons First National by 393.0% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 185,604 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 147,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 159,703 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,542,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens cut their price target on Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

Simmons First National Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of SFNC stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.48. 524,028 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 606,389. The company has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.82. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.03 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $19.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.03.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.10). Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The firm had revenue of $209.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National's payout ratio is presently 73.28%.

Simmons First National Company 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.