Tweedy Browne Co LLC Invests $388,000 in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Key Points

• Tweedy Browne Co LLC has invested $388,000 in Simmons First National Corporation, acquiring 20,476 shares of the bank's stock.
• Simmons First National reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.46, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.47, while revenue for the quarter was $232.54 million.
• The bank recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2125 per share, yielding approximately 4.7% annually.

Tweedy Browne Co LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,476 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. Jag Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.0% in the second quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 122,821 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 159.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,989 shares of the bank's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 20,933 shares of the bank's stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 4,168 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 27,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Simmons First National during the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $18.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.94. Simmons First National Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.20 and a twelve month high of $25.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $232.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.26 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 11.19%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio is 66.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In related news, Director Russell William Teubner purchased 9,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.62 per share, for a total transaction of $171,304.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 53,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $990,956.40. This represents a 20.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven A. Cosse acquired 13,500 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $249,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 104,120 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 100,755 shares of company stock valued at $1,865,332. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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 shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" 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.

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