George Makris, Jr. Buys 17,550 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Stock

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) CEO George Makris, Jr. purchased 17,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.50 per share, with a total value of $324,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 651,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,056,505.50. This represents a 2.77% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $19.79. 1,377,647 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,844,432. The business's fifty 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 5.23%. The business had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. 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 SFNC. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Simmons First National by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,600 shares of the bank's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 20,606 shares of the bank's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 5,006 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,496 shares of the bank's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 3,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 4th quarter worth about $258,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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, July 21st. Stephens reduced 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. Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.