CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $1.68 Million Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lessened its holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 84,834 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,724 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter worth $26,533,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,418,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $169,413,000 after buying an additional 911,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,036,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $341,814,000 after buying an additional 677,796 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 56.4% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,043,756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,649,000 after buying an additional 376,371 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 194.1% during the second quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 525,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,180,000 after acquiring an additional 347,052 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $18.95 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.36 and a fifty-two week high of $20.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.83. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.87.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $197.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.25 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 6.19%. Simmons First National’s quarterly revenue was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th.

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.