Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Acquires 45,789 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 771,712 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,789 shares during the quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.53% of Simmons First National worth $14,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,075 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC opened at $21.71 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.48 and a beta of 0.91. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $22.62.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The business had revenue of $241.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.02 million. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 7.81% and a negative net margin of 25.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -33.59%.

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.