Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $7.42 Million Holdings in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 168.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 393,798 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 247,165 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Simmons First National were worth $7,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 197.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 68.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $134,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SFNC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, April 17th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Simmons First National currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $21.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.31 and a beta of 0.92. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $22.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The business had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Simmons First National Company 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.