Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Sold by State Street Corp

State Street Corp lowered its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,999,817 shares of the bank's stock after selling 124,202 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 4.78% of Simmons First National worth $130,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFNC. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,948 shares of the bank's stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 2.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Simmons First National by 29.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In related news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the sale, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SFNC shares. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.2 %

Simmons First National stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.77. The stock had a trading volume of 466,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,899. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $16.03 and a 52-week high of $25.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.77 and a 200 day moving average of $20.99. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30 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 (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. Simmons First National's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Simmons First National's payout ratio is 82.35%.

Simmons First National 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.