Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 492,790 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,941 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.39% of Simmons First National worth $8,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 161.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in Simmons First National by 2,045.5% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 250,150.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,010 shares of the bank’s stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 10,006 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the first quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the first quarter worth $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $21.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National Co. has a 12 month low of $13.36 and a 12 month high of $22.45.

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

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In other news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 8,680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total value of $190,352.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,909.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 8,680 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $190,352.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,428,909.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 21,420 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.58, for a total value of $462,243.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at $13,128,128.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,700 shares of company stock worth $728,952 over the last 90 days. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on SFNC shares. StockNews.com cut Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stephens increased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.75.

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.