Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Shares Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 38.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 445,896 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,531 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Simmons First National worth $10,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 17,016.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 125,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,437,000 after acquiring an additional 124,562 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 24.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 624,613 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,149,000 after purchasing an additional 123,732 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 213.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 206,793 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,022,000 after buying an additional 140,769 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Simmons First National by 151.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 405,336 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,884,000 after acquiring an additional 244,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,313,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SFNC. Zacks Research raised shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price target on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $27.50 in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Simmons First National from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.69.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

SFNC stock opened at $23.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.94. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.17 and a 1-year high of $24.32.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. Simmons First National had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The company had revenue of $251.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $254.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.2150 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.04%.

Simmons First National Profile

Simmons First National Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Its principal subsidiary, Simmons Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

The bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential and commercial real estate financing, treasury and cash-management services, credit cards, and online and mobile banking. It also provides wealth management, trust, investment and insurance services through specialized business lines.

Founded in 1903, Simmons has expanded from its Arkansas roots into a regional banking franchise serving customers through branches and financial centers across Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.