44,300 Shares in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Purchased by Strs Ohio

Key Points

• Strs Ohio purchased 44,300 shares of Simmons First National Corporation, valued at approximately $909,000, in the first quarter of the year.
• Equities analysts are optimistic about Simmons First National, with price targets raised to between $22.00 and $23.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2125 per share, with a yield of 4.2%, to be paid on October 1st.

Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 44,300 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $909,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Simmons First National in the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 92.2% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,072 shares of the bank's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased 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 valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 18.7% in the first 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 period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 1,263.3% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,621 shares of the bank's stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 7,062 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In other news, Director Russell William Teubner acquired 9,200 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.62 per share, with a total value of $171,304.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 53,220 shares in the company, valued at $990,956.40. The trade was a 20.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Steenberg Christopher J. Van acquired 13,500 shares of the firm's 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 $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 represents a ∞ 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 worth $1,865,332 over the last three months. 1.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, reaching $19.94. 763,726 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 724,660. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.20 and a 12-month high of $25.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.49.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. The firm 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%. Simmons First National's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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