Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Raises Stock Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 249.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,598 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,710 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SFNC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,922,000 after buying an additional 27,479 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,866,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,197,000 after acquiring an additional 65,992 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at $1,339,000. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the third quarter worth approximately $824,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 33.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,565,000 after acquiring an additional 170,821 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,391.50. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens decreased their price target on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Simmons First National Stock Down 1.6 %

SFNC stock opened at $22.92 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.27.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.42%.

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.