Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Shares Acquired by Dean Capital Management

Dean Capital Management increased its stake in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 173.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,891 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,548 shares during the quarter. Dean Capital Management’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Simmons First National by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,419,609 shares of the bank’s stock worth $314,764,000 after buying an additional 1,763,161 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 2.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,630,535 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,279,000 after acquiring an additional 169,768 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $129,282,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 7.3% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,737,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,858,000 after acquiring an additional 254,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 0.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072,538 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,261,000 after purchasing an additional 9,956 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SFNC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.43.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $18.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.72 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.43. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $22.17.

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

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given 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 dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently -31.05%.

Simmons First National declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Simmons First National

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.