GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 2,047.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,023 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,601 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,616,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $168,938,000 after acquiring an additional 51,468 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the 4th quarter valued at $27,095,000. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,104,008 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,487,000 after acquiring an additional 286,622 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Down 3.4%

Simmons First National stock opened at $18.34 on Monday. 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 $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.93. Simmons First National Co. has a 1-year low of $16.03 and a 1-year high of $25.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $209.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st.

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.