Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman Sells $462,243.60 in Stock

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 21,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.58, for a total value of $462,243.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,128,128.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC traded up $0.18 on Tuesday, reaching $21.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 513,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,041. The company has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.89. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $13.36 and a 52-week high of $22.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $372.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.30 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.33% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 63.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.75.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 1.1% during the second quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,984 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,100 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 161.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 1.6% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,077 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

About Simmons First National

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.