Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 771,712 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 45,789 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $14,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Down 1.6%

Simmons First National stock opened at $21.71 on Thursday. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $22.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.24 and its 200 day moving average is $20.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of -8.48 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 7.81% and a negative net margin of 25.44%.The company had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -33.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Simmons First National Profile

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company’s core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.