JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 170,821 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.54% of Simmons First National worth $14,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 9,443.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,395,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381,353 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,323,934 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,752,000 after acquiring an additional 413,459 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 104.6% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 376,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,610,000 after purchasing an additional 192,200 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 131.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,337,000 after acquiring an additional 140,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dean Investment Associates LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National by 231.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 137,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after purchasing an additional 95,928 shares in the last quarter. 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 $20.96 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.70.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is presently 82.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on SFNC shares. Stephens upgraded Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In other news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.