Carlson Capital L.P. Makes New Investment in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Carlson Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,900 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000. Simmons First National accounts for approximately 0.3% of Carlson Capital L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Simmons First National by 33.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,565,000 after buying an additional 170,821 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Simmons First National by 131.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,337,000 after buying an additional 140,738 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC increased its position in Simmons First National by 231.6% during the third quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 137,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,959,000 after buying an additional 95,928 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 65,992 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the third quarter worth approximately $1,339,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $21.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79 and a beta of 0.86. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.44. Simmons First National Co. has a 12-month low of $16.03 and a 12-month high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 70.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens dropped their target price on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.