Cibc World Markets Corp Makes New $258,000 Investment in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 11,616 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SFNC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 168.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in 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 period. FMR LLC raised its position in Simmons First National by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National during the third quarter valued at approximately $237,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens reduced their target price on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $20.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.82 and its 200-day moving average is $22.48. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.03 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The company had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.25%.

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.