Barclays PLC Has $5.34 Million Stock Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 131.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 140,738 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Simmons First National worth $5,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 2,045.5% during the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 13.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Simmons First National by 29.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Simmons First National by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter worth $205,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $22.49 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.03 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is 82.35%.

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,755,695.14. The trade was a 8.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total transaction of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SFNC. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens raised shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Profile

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.