Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Grows Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,845 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,739 shares during the quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Simmons First National by 13.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 533 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,085 shares of the bank’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in 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 valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFNC. Stephens raised shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC stock opened at $24.71 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23 and a beta of 0.86. Simmons First National Co. has a 1 year low of $15.72 and a 1 year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 5.15%. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

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