Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Shares Sold by Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Simmons First National Corporation by 7.9%, now holding approximately 0.46% of the company valued at $11.89 million.
• Insider transactions saw CFO Charles Daniel Hobbs and CEO George Makris, Jr. significantly increase their holdings, with Hobbs acquiring a 112.20% increase and Makris a 1,903.39% increase in shares bought at $18.50 each.
• Simmons First National reported earnings of $0.44 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 8.6%, despite missing revenue estimates.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 578,986 shares of the bank's stock after selling 49,334 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 0.46% of Simmons First National worth $11,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $71,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,407 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 140.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,518,806 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,181,000 after purchasing an additional 887,603 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,531,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,065,000. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,008 shares of the bank's stock worth $24,487,000 after purchasing an additional 286,622 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, Director Russell William Teubner acquired 9,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.62 per share, for a total transaction of $171,304.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 53,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $990,956.40. The trade was a 20.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO George Makris, Jr. acquired 28,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $519,387.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 29,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,675. The trade was a 1,903.39% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 100,755 shares of company stock valued at $1,865,332 in the last ninety days. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.00. The company had a trading volume of 252,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,374. Simmons First National Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.20 and a twelve month high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.95. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $19.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.69.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $217.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Simmons First National from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson upped their target price on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.75.

Simmons First National 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.