Leeward Investments LLC MA Buys Shares of 809,473 Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Leeward Investments LLC MA bought a new position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 809,473 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $15,744,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA owned 0.56% of Simmons First National at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 27.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,632 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 18,933 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 271.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 158,856 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 116,072 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 73,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 3,624.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,036 shares of the bank’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 12,686 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1,288.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 18,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 16,746 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SFNC. Stephens upped their target price on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC opened at $22.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.37 and a 200 day moving average of $20.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of -8.78 and a beta of 0.91. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $22.62.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The business had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.02 million. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 25.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is presently -33.59%.

Simmons First National 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.