Leeward Investments LLC MA Acquires Shares of 809,473 Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Leeward Investments LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 809,473 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $15,744,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Simmons First National by 35.6% during 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. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Simmons First National Stock Up 1.4%

Simmons First National stock opened at $22.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of -8.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Simmons First National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.35.

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

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.59%.

About Simmons First National

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.