Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stock Position in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 17,016.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 125,294 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,562 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $2,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Simmons First National during the third quarter valued at approximately $129,282,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,143,055 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,547,000 after acquiring an additional 874,513 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,744,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Simmons First National by 97.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,469,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,702,000 after purchasing an additional 725,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,595,939 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,083,000 after purchasing an additional 587,082 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $22.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.03 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Simmons First National Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.87.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.03). Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 24.64% and a positive return on equity of 8.32%. The company had revenue of $248.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is -33.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. National Bank Financial set a $25.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.50.

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.