Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Stock Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 101,360 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,809 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.08% of Simmons First National worth $2,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 2,045.5% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 13.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the second quarter valued at approximately $183,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Down 0.2 %

SFNC stock opened at $24.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.43. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $15.72 and a 52 week high of $25.95.

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. The business had revenue of $203.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 5.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.35%.

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In other news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650. Corporate insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SFNC shares. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

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.