Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 8,773 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,323 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,773 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.07% of Simmons First National worth $1,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $579,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 673,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,937,000 after buying an additional 27,115 shares during the last quarter. Carlson Capital L.P. bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth $464,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at $1,339,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,895,477 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,042,000 after acquiring an additional 29,335 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $17.39 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.03 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.28 and its 200-day moving average is $22.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.10). Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $209.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 EPS 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 paid a $0.2125 dividend. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 70.25%.

About Simmons First National

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.