GAMMA Investing LLC Takes $29,000 Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,525 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter worth $1,951,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Simmons First National by 406.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 204,984 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,477,000 after buying an additional 164,535 shares in the last quarter. WBI Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the third quarter valued at about $683,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 6.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,534,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,023,000 after acquiring an additional 93,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 70,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 2,550 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.1 %

SFNC stock opened at $17.96 on Tuesday. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.36 and a fifty-two week high of $20.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $195.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.35 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 11.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP George A. Makris III sold 15,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $269,218.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,707 shares in the company, valued at $684,151.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens decreased their target price on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Simmons First National Company 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.