Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 14,242 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 378,135 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 14,242 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Simmons First National worth $7,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,737,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,858,000 after acquiring an additional 254,067 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 0.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072,538 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,261,000 after purchasing an additional 9,956 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 140.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,518,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,181,000 after purchasing an additional 887,603 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1,179.6% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 969,027 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,894,000 after buying an additional 893,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 668,003 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,714,000 after buying an additional 7,279 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Simmons First National in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They set a “positive” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.33.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $17.54 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -5.99 and a beta of 0.97. Simmons First National Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $25.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.66 and its 200 day moving average is $19.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.01). Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 5.84% and a negative net margin of 29.70%.The business had revenue of $232.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -29.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven A. Cosse purchased 8,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.44 per share, with a total value of $150,036.32. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 113,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,982,090.88. This represents a 8.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David W. Garner acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.66 per share, for a total transaction of $52,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 72,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,277,612.70. This represents a 4.33% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Company 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.