Vanguard Group Inc. Has $310.49 Million Stock Position in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its holding to 16,471,523 shares—about 11.38% of Simmons First—valued at approximately $310.49 million after buying 51,914 shares in the fourth quarter.
• The board approved a $175 million share repurchase plan that allows the company to buy back up to 5.7% of its stock, a signal management may view the shares as undervalued.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $22 price target; the stock trades near $21.36, market cap ~ $3.1B, and the company reported $0.47 EPS with revenue up 15.2% year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,471,523 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 51,914 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.38% of Simmons First National worth $310,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Simmons First National by 197.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Simmons First National by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Simmons First National by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Simmons First National by 68.4% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,938 shares of the bank's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at $134,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SFNC. Zacks Research cut shares of Simmons First National from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Simmons First National Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $21.36 on Friday. Simmons First National Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $22.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.34 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.11 and a 200-day moving average of $19.53.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 25.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $241.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $243.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $175.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Simmons First National

Simmons First National Corporation NASDAQ: SFNC is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company's core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.

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