Insider Buying: Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Director Buys 1,000 Shares of Stock

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) Director Jerry Hunter acquired 1,000 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $18,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,318 shares in the company, valued at $431,383. The trade was a 4.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Thursday, reaching $19.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,203,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,213. The business's 50-day moving average price is $19.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.92. Simmons First National Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.20 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Simmons First National's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Simmons First National's payout ratio is 66.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 35.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the bank's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 892 shares during the period. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 813.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,911 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 3,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on SFNC shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Monday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.

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