Wesbanco Bank Inc. Takes Position in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 94,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,810,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Simmons First National by 41.7% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 922,284 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,487,000 after purchasing an additional 271,257 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 7.3% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,737,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,858,000 after buying an additional 254,067 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Simmons First National by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,731,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,835,000 after acquiring an additional 212,988 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,006,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Simmons First National by 89.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 300,286 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,693,000 after acquiring an additional 141,430 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $21.77 on Wednesday. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $23.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.86 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.43.

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.