George Makris, Jr. Buys 28,075 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Stock

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) CEO George Makris, Jr. bought 28,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $519,387.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 29,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,675. The trade was a 1,903.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $19.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,377,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,844,432. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $19.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.10. Simmons First National Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.20 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.92. 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 (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 11.19%. The company had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $217.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Simmons First National's payout ratio is 66.93%.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 35.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the bank's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 813.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,911 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $22.75.

Simmons First National Company 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.