Versor Investments LP Buys New Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 44,200 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in 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 buying an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 2,045.5% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 13.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter valued at about $183,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $76,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.78. The stock had a trading volume of 790,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,903. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $15.72 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $203.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 5.15%. Simmons First National's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.