Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 332,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $6,372,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 146,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,811,000 after acquiring an additional 50,145 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,810,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the second quarter worth approximately $861,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Simmons First National by 396.5% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 164,577 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,155,000 after purchasing an additional 131,431 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in Simmons First National during the second quarter worth approximately $279,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $21.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $20.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.00 and a 12 month high of $22.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of -7.75 and a beta of 0.93.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $238.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFNC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial raised Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on Simmons First National in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Simmons First National has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.