Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New $318,000 Investment in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC acquired 15,509 shares of Simmons First National Corporation, valued at approximately $318,000, indicating investment confidence in the bank's potential.
• Simmons First National reported $0.44 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.40, along with an 8.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Several hedge funds have modified their positions, with a total of 27.58% of the stock now owned by institutional investors as of the latest quarter.

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,509 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Simmons First National by 99.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the bank's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 2,301 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth approximately $114,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Simmons First National by 18.7% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,231 shares of the bank's stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Simmons First National Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.88. The stock had a trading volume of 516,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,639. Simmons First National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.20 and a fifty-two week 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $19.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.61. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.97.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $217.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Simmons First National's payout ratio is presently 66.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO George Makris, Jr. bought 28,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.50 per share, with a total value of $519,387.50. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 29,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,675. This trade represents a 1,903.39% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Charles Daniel Hobbs bought 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.50 per share, with a total value of $99,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,213 shares in the company, valued at $188,940.50. This represents a 112.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 100,755 shares of company stock worth $1,865,332 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

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.