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 lessened its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 60.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (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 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter worth $71,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 99.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the bank's stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth $114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Simmons First National news, Director Marty Casteel bought 5,400 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $99,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 213,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,957,168.50. This represents a 2.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Charles Daniel Hobbs bought 5,400 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $99,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 10,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,940.50. The trade was a 112.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 100,755 shares of company stock worth $1,865,332 in the last 90 days. 1.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Simmons First National Price Performance

NASDAQ SFNC traded down $0.27 on Monday, reaching $20.59. The company had a trading volume of 762,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,056,687. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.95. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $19.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.68. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.20 and a 12 month high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $214.18 million for 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%. Simmons First National's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SFNC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 note on Monday, July 21st. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.