MQS Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

MQS Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 33.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,379 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,137 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Simmons First National by 35.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the first quarter valued at $71,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Simmons First National by 92.2% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,072 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Simmons First National by 99.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Simmons First National by 18.7% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.5%

SFNC stock opened at $17.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of -6.10 and a beta of 0.94. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.20 and a 12 month high of $25.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.72 and its 200 day moving average is $19.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $232.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.26 million. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 5.84% and a negative net margin of 29.70%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -29.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. 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. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Russell William Teubner purchased 9,200 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.62 per share, with a total value of $171,304.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 53,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $990,956.40. This represents a 20.90% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David W. Garner purchased 3,000 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.66 per share, for a total transaction of $52,980.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 72,345 shares in the company, valued at $1,277,612.70. This trade represents a 4.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 14,200 shares of company stock worth $261,544 in the last ninety days. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.