Connors Investor Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its holdings in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 133,504 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,404 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $2,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tweedy Browne Co LLC purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter valued at about $388,000. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 122,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 159.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 7,364 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 20,933 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 4,168 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 27,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Simmons First National news, Director Russell William Teubner bought 9,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.62 per share, with a total value of $171,304.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $990,956.40. This trade represents a 20.90% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Simmons First National stock opened at $17.75 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.20 and a one year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $232.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.26 million. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 5.84% and a negative net margin of 29.70%.The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is -29.01%.

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.