Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.92 Million Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 4.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 27,479 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $13,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 161.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 2,045.5% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the second quarter valued at $183,000. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the second quarter worth about $222,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,391.50. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,130 shares of company stock worth $846,221. 1.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.1 %

SFNC opened at $24.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.86. Simmons First National Co. has a twelve month low of $15.72 and a twelve month high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

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.