Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,296 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 958 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,258,997 shares of the bank’s stock worth $332,494,000 after purchasing an additional 135,615 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 5.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,736,788 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $144,446,000 after buying an additional 318,383 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,610,050 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,023,000 after buying an additional 109,728 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 0.8% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,730,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,362,000 after acquiring an additional 13,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Simmons First National by 6.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,534,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,023,000 after acquiring an additional 93,507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Simmons First National stock opened at $17.69 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $13.36 and a 52-week high of $20.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.77 and its 200 day moving average is $17.92. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.87.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $197.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.25 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 6.19%. The business’s revenue was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

Simmons First National Company Profile

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.