Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 157,061 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 33.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625,391 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 157,061 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $12,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Simmons First National by 17,016.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 125,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,437,000 after buying an additional 124,562 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National by 238.5% in the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 39,461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $752,000 after acquiring an additional 27,803 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,558,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,090,000 after acquiring an additional 53,994 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,471,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $310,488,000 after acquiring an additional 51,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 261,687 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,933,000 after purchasing an additional 47,248 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SFNC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $23.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of -9.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $23.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.04.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.03). Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 8.32% and a negative net margin of 24.64%.The company had revenue of $248.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is presently -33.99%.

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.