Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,492 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at about $1,951,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 406.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 204,984 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 164,535 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $683,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 6.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,534,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,023,000 after buying an additional 93,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 70,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SFNC. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $18.08 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Simmons First National Co. has a 1-year low of $13.36 and a 1-year high of $20.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.90.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Simmons First National had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The business had revenue of $195.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Simmons First National news, EVP George A. Makris III sold 15,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $269,218.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $684,151.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

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.