Short Interest in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Declines By 15.2%

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a drop of 15.2% from the February 13th total of 2,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 615,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 673,440 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,937,000 after buying an additional 27,115 shares during the period. Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter valued at about $464,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,866,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,197,000 after purchasing an additional 65,992 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the third quarter worth about $1,339,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter worth approximately $824,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.39. The company had a trading volume of 2,464,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 541,732. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $21.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Simmons First National has a 1 year low of $16.03 and a 1 year high of $25.95.

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Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $208.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Simmons First National 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. This is an increase from Simmons First National's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens dropped their price target on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock 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.