Highland Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,205 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 2.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,085 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 161.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,077 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $76,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFNC has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens raised shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $22.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.40. Simmons First National Co. has a twelve month low of $14.07 and a twelve month high of $23.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54 and a beta of 0.87.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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.