Rhumbline Advisers Reduces Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 381,113 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,379 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.30% of Simmons First National worth $8,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2,078.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,946 shares of the bank’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 14,260 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 105.9% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 18.2% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,922,000 after purchasing an additional 27,479 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 13.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens lowered their price target on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC opened at $21.43 on Tuesday. Simmons First National Co. has a 1 year low of $16.03 and a 1 year high of $25.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.39 and its 200 day moving average is $22.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.25%.

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.