AlphaQuest LLC Grows Holdings in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 108.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 153,408 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,750 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $2,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,471,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $310,488,000 after purchasing an additional 51,914 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,630,535 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,279,000 after purchasing an additional 169,768 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter valued at $129,282,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,508,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,425,000 after purchasing an additional 91,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,731,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,835,000 after acquiring an additional 212,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of SFNC opened at $21.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.45 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.84. Simmons First National Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $22.17.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The business had revenue of $241.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.02 million. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 25.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $175.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SFNC shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Stephens increased their target price on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

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.