Inspire Investing LLC Purchases 4,168 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 24.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,933 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,168 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SFNC. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 119.9% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,483,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899,407 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 1,179.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 969,027 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,894,000 after purchasing an additional 893,298 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 140.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,518,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,181,000 after purchasing an additional 887,603 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the first quarter valued at $6,065,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 206.9% in the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 357,165 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,333,000 after purchasing an additional 240,803 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $18.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.37. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.20 and a 1-year high of $25.95. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.21 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 11.19%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Steenberg Christopher J. Van bought 13,500 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.50 per share, for a total transaction of $249,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,750. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven A. Cosse bought 13,500 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.50 per share, with a total value of $249,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 104,120 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,220. This trade represents a 14.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 100,755 shares of company stock worth $1,865,332 over the last 90 days. 1.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Simmons First National

Simmons First National Corporation operates as the holding company for Simmons Bank that provides banking and other financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposits; consumer, real estate, and commercial loans; agricultural finance, equipment, and small business administration lending; trust and fiduciary services; credit cards; investment management products; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services.