Cerity Partners LLC Takes $335,000 Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,222 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 168.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,345 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Simmons First National by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,091 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter worth $258,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Up 1.2 %

SFNC stock opened at $18.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Simmons First National Co. has a one year low of $16.03 and a one year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $209.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.00 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. This is a boost 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 is presently 73.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFNC. Stephens cut their price target on Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday.

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.