Dean Investment Associates LLC Acquires 95,928 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Dean Investment Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 231.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,352 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,928 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $2,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 47,820 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $824,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 10.4% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,788 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,391.50. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC opened at $24.24 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.35%.

About Simmons First National

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.