JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 49.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,011,431 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 335,260 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.81% of Simmons First National worth $22,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Simmons First National by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,866,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $329,742,000 after acquiring an additional 630,376 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased 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 during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 515,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,438,000 after purchasing an additional 109,866 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Simmons First National in the 4th quarter valued at $1,468,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,339,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Stock Up 4.7 %

SFNC opened at $18.90 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.31. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Simmons First National’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.