Invesco Ltd. Buys 262,529 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 71.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 631,203 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 262,529 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.50% of Simmons First National worth $14,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,867 shares of the bank's stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 1,838 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new stake in Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 692.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 221,855 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,921,000 after purchasing an additional 193,856 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,319 shares of the bank's stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 8,825 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position 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 valued at $2,093,000 after buying an additional 13,174 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $17.41 on Tuesday. 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 price is $20.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 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 (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $209.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. This is an increase from Simmons First National's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National's payout ratio is presently 73.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SFNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday.

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.

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