11,673 Shares in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Bought by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,673 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth $27,751,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,695,000 after buying an additional 349,534 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 131.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 475,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,429,000 after buying an additional 270,255 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its position in Simmons First National by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 1,977,793 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,239,000 after purchasing an additional 175,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the third quarter valued at about $2,041,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on SFNC shares. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens cut their price target on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Simmons First National stock opened at $17.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.32 and its 200 day moving average is $18.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 0.89. Simmons First National Co. has a one year low of $13.36 and a one year high of $20.82.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $195.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.35 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 11.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP George A. Makris III sold 15,625 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $269,218.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $684,151.61. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.