Verition Fund Management LLC Takes $237,000 Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,021 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SFNC. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 66.6% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,443 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 7,770 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.8% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the second quarter worth about $269,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 6.6% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 174,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 10,765 shares during the period. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.1% during the second quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,948 shares of the bank’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $23.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National Co. has a one year low of $16.03 and a one year high of $25.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $204.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Simmons First National’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.