ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 444,843 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,055 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.35% of Simmons First National worth $7,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter valued at $153,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter valued at $214,000. 13.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In other news, Director Dean O. Bass sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total value of $593,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,064,577.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SFNC. TheStreet lowered shares of Simmons First National from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC opened at $17.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Simmons First National Co. has a 1-year low of $14.68 and a 1-year high of $24.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.38 and a 200-day moving average of $17.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.85.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $342.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $213.85 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 21.42% and a return on equity of 8.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 38.10%.

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. 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; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services.