Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 33,400 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 169,293 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 33,400 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $3,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 197.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on SFNC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC opened at $21.48 on Friday. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $22.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.39 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.55 and a 200 day moving average of $19.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 25.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $241.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.02 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $175.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -33.59%.

Simmons First National Company Profile

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company’s core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.