Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 45,909 Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 45,909 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 33.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,565,000 after buying an additional 170,821 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 131.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,337,000 after purchasing an additional 140,738 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Simmons First National by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 515,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,438,000 after buying an additional 109,866 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National by 231.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 137,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,959,000 after purchasing an additional 95,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $18.84 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.44. Simmons First National Co. has a 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 0.84.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 70.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens dropped their target price on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.