Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC – Get Rating) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,890 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 13.8% during the third quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 140,776 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,067,000 after buying an additional 17,112 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 12.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the third quarter worth $2,166,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 30.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the third quarter worth $9,018,000. 13.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $20.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.84. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.34 and a fifty-two week high of $29.94.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 25th. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $236.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.70 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 8.73%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simmons First National news, Director Dean O. Bass sold 27,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.76, for a total transaction of $616,796.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 181,860 shares in the company, valued at $4,139,133.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Simmons First National

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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. It 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; insurance products; and securities and investment services.