Marty Casteel Acquires 5,400 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Stock

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) Director Marty Casteel purchased 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $99,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 213,901 shares in the company, valued at $3,957,168.50. This represents a 2.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Simmons First National Trading Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:SFNC traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.66. The stock had a trading volume of 4,203,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,213. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.24 and a 200 day moving average of $20.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 0.92. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.20 and a one year 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $214.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.21 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 11.19%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,866,647 shares of the bank's stock valued at $329,742,000 after buying an additional 630,376 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Simmons First National by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,616,599 shares of the bank's stock valued at $168,938,000 after acquiring an additional 51,468 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 119.9% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,483,147 shares of the bank's stock valued at $71,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899,407 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 140.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,518,806 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,181,000 after purchasing an additional 887,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth $27,095,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 upped their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson upped their target price on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from 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.

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