Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $1.02 Million Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in 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 bought 45,909 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 515,690 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,438,000 after acquiring an additional 109,866 shares in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 120,421 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,895,477 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,042,000 after purchasing an additional 29,335 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 168.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

SFNC traded down $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $18.05. The company had a trading volume of 742,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 583,632. Simmons First National Co. has a 1-year low of $16.03 and a 1-year high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company's fifty day moving average price is $21.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 0.82.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The company had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $208.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National's payout ratio is 70.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.