18,109 Shares in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Bought by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired 18,109 shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) valued at approximately $372,000 in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included CFO Charles Daniel Hobbs purchasing 5,400 shares and CEO George Makris, Jr. acquiring 28,075 shares, both on July 23rd, indicating strong internal confidence in the company's prospects.
• Simmons First National reported a quarterly EPS of $0.44, exceeding analysts' expectations, with total revenue of $214.18 million, reflecting an 8.6% increase year-over-year.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,109 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 76,711 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 5.5% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,058 shares of the bank's stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.6% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 62,588 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,396 shares of the bank's stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 7.7% in the first quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 14,738 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SFNC shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Russell William Teubner bought 9,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.62 per share, for a total transaction of $171,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 53,220 shares in the company, valued at $990,956.40. The trade was a 20.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Marty Casteel bought 5,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $99,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 213,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,957,168.50. The trade was a 2.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 100,755 shares of company stock valued at $1,865,332 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.91% of the company's stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.11. 1,061,437 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 854,278. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.87. Simmons First National Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.20 and a 52-week high of $25.95. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.83 and a beta of 0.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 5.23%. The business had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $217.21 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.