Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $1.02 Million in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 45,909 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 630,376 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,895,477 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,042,000 after buying an additional 29,335 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth $27,095,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,011,431 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,434,000 after acquiring an additional 335,260 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 673,440 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,937,000 after acquiring an additional 27,115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company's stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.03. 421,410 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 609,470. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.84. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $16.03 and a 52-week high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Simmons First National 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.