Comerica Bank Sells 1,699 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,378 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,699 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at about $579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 673,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,937,000 after purchasing an additional 27,115 shares during the period. Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth about $464,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Simmons First National by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 85,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 30,200 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the third quarter worth about $1,339,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SFNC. Piper Sandler raised shares of Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

Simmons First National Stock Down 0.1%

SFNC stock opened at $19.37 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Simmons First National Co. has a 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.75.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $209.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. 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 Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.28%.

About Simmons First National

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.