Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman George Makris, Jr. Sells 25,440 Shares

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,336,427.87. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $24.49 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.86. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $15.72 and a 52-week high of $25.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens raised shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 3,808.6% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 95,839 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,865,000 after buying an additional 93,387 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 173,229 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 25,316 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 90.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 66,037 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 31,284 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,254,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 113,111.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 82,644 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 82,571 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Simmons First National

Simmons First National Corporation operates as the holding company for Simmons Bank that provides banking and other financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposits; consumer, real estate, and commercial loans; agricultural finance, equipment, and small business administration lending; trust and fiduciary services; credit cards; investment management products; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services.