Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 65,992 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,866,142 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 65,992 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.49% of Simmons First National worth $40,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Simmons First National by 161.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in Simmons First National by 2,045.5% during the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Simmons First National by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Simmons First National by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter worth $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In related news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,640,391.50. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650 over the last ninety days. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SFNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upgraded Simmons First National from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Stock Down 0.3 %

SFNC stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.42. 485,656 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 542,495. The firm's 50 day moving average is $23.26 and its 200 day moving average is $20.58. Simmons First National Co. has a twelve month low of $16.03 and a twelve month high of $25.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

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.