Denali Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Denali Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 83.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,300 shares of the bank's stock after selling 285,700 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC's holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Simmons First National by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,992,851 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,478,000 after acquiring an additional 37,519 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Simmons First National by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,565,000 after purchasing an additional 170,821 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 673,440 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,937,000 after buying an additional 27,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 356,500 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,907,000 after buying an additional 17,358 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Simmons First National Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ SFNC traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $21.97. The company had a trading volume of 633,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,855. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The stock's 50 day moving average is $22.32 and its 200-day moving average is $22.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National's payout ratio is 70.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens dropped their target price on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.