Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Short Interest Update

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a decline of 15.2% from the February 13th total of 2,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 615,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $20.66 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $21.89 and its 200-day moving average is $22.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.84. Simmons First National has a fifty-two week low of $16.03 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,095,000. Rhino Investment Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the 4th quarter worth about $19,531,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,866,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $329,742,000 after purchasing an additional 630,376 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,011,431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,434,000 after purchasing an additional 335,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,008 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,487,000 after purchasing an additional 286,622 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.