Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman Sells $641,342.40 in Stock

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SFNC stock 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.99. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 5.15%. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 3.43%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,992,851 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,478,000 after purchasing an additional 37,519 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 131.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,337,000 after buying an additional 140,738 shares in the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC grew its position in Simmons First National by 231.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 137,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 95,928 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter worth about $269,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 43.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 158,099 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,405,000 after purchasing an additional 47,820 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.