Simmons Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Simmons Bank lowered its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 28.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,340,896 shares of the bank's stock after selling 523,964 shares during the quarter. Simmons First National makes up approximately 2.1% of Simmons Bank's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Simmons Bank owned approximately 1.07% of Simmons First National worth $28,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Simmons First National by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,948 shares of the bank's stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,085 shares of the bank's stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,100 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SFNC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stephens raised shares of Simmons First National from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $76,356.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company's stock.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.8 %

SFNC traded down $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.78. 747,600 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 539,449. Simmons First National Co. has a one year low of $15.72 and a one year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.87.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

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.