Insider Selling: Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman Sells 25,440 Shares of Stock

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at $15,336,427.87. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.37. The company had a trading volume of 143,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,021. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Simmons First National Co. has a 12-month low of $15.72 and a 12-month high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $203.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simmons First National

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 90.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 66,037 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 31,284 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 17.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 173,229 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 25,316 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Simmons First National by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at about $416,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 45,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 9,585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens raised Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

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.