Trexquant Investment LP Purchases 61,913 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Simmons First National Corporation (SFNC) by 33.4%, acquiring an additional 61,913 shares and raising its total ownership to 0.20%, valued at approximately $5.08 million.
• Analyst ratings for SFNC have recently improved, with upgrades from several firms, including a new price target of $23.00 by DA Davidson and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider trading activity was notable, with CFO Charles Hobbs and Director Marty Casteel each purchasing 5,400 shares at an average price of $18.50, indicating confidence in the company's future performance.

Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 33.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,517 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 61,913 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.20% of Simmons First National worth $5,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the first quarter worth about $71,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 99.0% during the first 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. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 18.7% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,231 shares of the bank's stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Simmons First National from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.75.

Insider Activity

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

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $20.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.63. 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 fifty-two week low of $17.20 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95.

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 business had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.21 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 11.19%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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