Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 43.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 151,857 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,273 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Simmons First National worth $2,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National by 197.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Simmons First National by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Simmons First National by 68.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC opened at $20.21 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Simmons First National Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of -7.30 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 6.73% and a negative net margin of 27.83%.The company had revenue of $249.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently -30.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial raised Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price target on Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

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.