Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $462,000 in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 20,850 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Simmons First National in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 168.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 813.8% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,911 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 3,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at $114,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SFNC. Piper Sandler upgraded Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective 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.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 348,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 612,503. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.61. Simmons First National Co. has a 12-month low of $16.03 and a 12-month high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $209.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Simmons First National's payout ratio is currently 73.28%.

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.