Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 339,142 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,265 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $7,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SFNC. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 161.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 2,045.5% during the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position 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 valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 29.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National during the second quarter worth about $183,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $24.49 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.72 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total transaction of $128,522.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,130 shares of company stock worth $846,221 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. 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 report on Thursday, July 25th. Stephens raised Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

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.