Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Stock Holdings Increased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 43.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 151,857 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 46,273 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $2,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 52.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 146,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 50,145 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the third quarter worth $1,810,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter worth about $861,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 396.5% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 164,577 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,155,000 after buying an additional 131,431 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 2nd quarter valued at about $279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.0%

SFNC opened at $20.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.30 and a beta of 0.91. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.00 and a 12 month high of $22.17.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 27.83% and a positive return on equity of 6.73%. The firm had revenue of $249.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -30.69%.

Simmons First National announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Simmons First National Profile

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company’s core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.