Newport Trust Company LLC Sells 10,590 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Newport Trust Company LLC lowered its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 690,161 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,590 shares during the quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC owned about 0.55% of Simmons First National worth $12,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth $27,751,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth about $1,155,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 250,150.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,010 shares of the bank’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 10,006 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Simmons First National during the 4th quarter valued at about $875,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 134,522 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,669,000 after buying an additional 54,631 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $22.07 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $13.36 and a 52-week high of $22.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.59 and a 200-day moving average of $18.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $372.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.30 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.33% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 63.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $76,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Simmons First National news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $76,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 8,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $190,352.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,909.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,700 shares of company stock valued at $728,952. Corporate insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SFNC shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, September 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Simmons First National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.75.

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.