Empowered Funds LLC Has $7.91 Million Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 356,500 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,358 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Simmons First National worth $7,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SFNC. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,992,851 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,478,000 after acquiring an additional 37,519 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Simmons First National by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,866,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,197,000 after purchasing an additional 65,992 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Simmons First National by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,565,000 after purchasing an additional 170,821 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,922,000 after buying an additional 27,479 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 131.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SFNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Simmons First National Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $22.74 on Tuesday. Simmons First National Co. has a 1 year low of $16.03 and a 1 year high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.78 and its 200-day moving average is $22.29. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. This represents a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

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.