12,798 Shares in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Acquired by PharVision Advisers LLC

Key Points

• PharVision Advisers LLC has acquired a new stake in Simmons First National Corporation, purchasing 12,798 shares valued at approximately $263,000.
• Several hedge funds, including NewEdge Advisors LLC and AQR Capital Management LLC, significantly increased their holdings in Simmons First National during the first quarter.
• Simmons First National announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2125 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.1%, to be paid on October 1st.

PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,798 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 92.2% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,072 shares of the bank's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 99.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the bank's stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,231 shares of the bank's stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SFNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Simmons First National from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Simmons First National news, CFO Charles Daniel Hobbs bought 5,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $99,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,213 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $188,940.50. This trade represents a 112.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Russell William Teubner bought 9,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.62 per share, for a total transaction of $171,304.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 53,220 shares in the company, valued at $990,956.40. This trade represents a 20.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 100,755 shares of company stock worth $1,865,332 over the last ninety days. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.4%

SFNC stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.58. 119,664 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 837,230. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. 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 $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's fifty day moving average is $20.02 and its 200-day moving average is $19.58.

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

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.93%.

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.