Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 33,400 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,293 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 33,400 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Simmons First National worth $3,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter worth $129,282,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,419,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $314,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763,161 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at $13,177,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,794,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,372,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $21.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of -8.39 and a beta of 0.92. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $22.17. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.89.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The business had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -33.59%.

Simmons First National announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often 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.