Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 19.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,008,857 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 166,211 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.70% of Simmons First National worth $19,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Simmons First National by 197.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 68.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $19.34 on Thursday. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.00 and a 12 month high of $22.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of -6.98 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.33.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is -31.05%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.43.

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.