Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) CFO Charles Daniel Hobbs Buys 5,400 Shares

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) CFO Charles Daniel Hobbs acquired 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $99,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,940.50. This represents a 112.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $19.68 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.13. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.20 and a one year high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 0.92.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SFNC. Stephens cut their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upgraded Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Simmons First National by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,866,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $329,742,000 after purchasing an additional 630,376 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,616,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $168,938,000 after buying an additional 51,468 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 119.9% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,483,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,509,000 after buying an additional 1,899,407 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 140.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,518,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,181,000 after buying an additional 887,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the 4th quarter valued at $27,095,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.