Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 646,325 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 27,479 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.51% of Simmons First National worth $13,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SFNC. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 161.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in Simmons First National by 2,045.5% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the second quarter worth approximately $183,000. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Simmons First National news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $76,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,130 shares of company stock worth $846,221. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.1 %

SFNC traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $24.49. 636,831 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 748,302. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Simmons First National Co. has a one year low of $15.72 and a one year high of $25.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.06.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 5.15%. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens upgraded Simmons First National from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.00.

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.