Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Sells 17,048 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP sold 60.8% of its stake in Simmons First National Corporation, reducing its holdings to 10,974 shares worth $225,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Principal Financial Group and GAMMA Investing LLC, have increased their stakes in Simmons First National, indicating ongoing interest in the company's stock.
• Equities analysts have upgraded Simmons First National's stock ratings, with price targets ranging from $22.00 to $23.00, suggesting a positive outlook for the company.

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP reduced its position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 60.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,974 shares of the bank's stock after selling 17,048 shares during the quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP's holdings in Simmons First National were worth $225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 691,328 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,193,000 after purchasing an additional 17,888 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 14,738 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at $1,086,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 2,047.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 52,023 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 49,601 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SFNC. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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 research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One investment 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.75.

Simmons First National Stock Down 0.3%

SFNC traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.79. 125,602 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 851,180. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $19.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.70. Simmons First National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.20 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.21 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 5.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Steenberg Christopher J. Van bought 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $249,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,750. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven A. Cosse bought 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.50 per share, with a total value of $249,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 104,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,926,220. The trade was a 14.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 100,755 shares of company stock valued at $1,865,332 over the last 90 days. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.