Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.19 Million Stock Position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 691,328 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 17,888 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.55% of Simmons First National worth $14,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SFNC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 813.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,911 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 3,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at $114,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

SFNC stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.94. 439,756 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 636,632. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.28. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.20 and a one year high of $25.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.92.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.10). Simmons First National had a return on equity of 4.86% and a net margin of 10.10%. The company had revenue of $209.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

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.