Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Purchased by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 31.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 75,909 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,110 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 131.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,337,000 after buying an additional 140,738 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,091 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 249.7% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 13,598 shares of the bank’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 9,710 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 356,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,907,000 after purchasing an additional 17,358 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 56,476 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $19.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.61. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.10). Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $209.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is 73.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SFNC shares. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st.

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.