Connors Investor Services Inc. Purchases 31,629 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Connors Investor Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 23.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,133 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 31,629 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $3,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 42.5% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 0.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 115,982 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 24.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Simmons First National by 8.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $18.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $22.17. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.75 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 27.83% and a positive return on equity of 6.73%. The company had revenue of $249.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Simmons First National’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect 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 stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $175.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 4.6%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFNC has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.