United Services Automobile Association Grows Position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC – Get Rating) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,800 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 47.0% in the second quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 1,354 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Simmons First National by 30.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,141 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. 13.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.9 %

SFNC stock opened at $18.94 on Wednesday. Simmons First National Co. has a twelve month low of $16.95 and a twelve month high of $28.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.57.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Simmons First National had a net margin of 24.85% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $309.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SFNC. StockNews.com raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simmons First National news, Director Dean O. Bass sold 10,000 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total value of $229,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 139,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,213,826. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Simmons First National news, Director Dean O. Bass sold 10,000 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total value of $229,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 139,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,213,826. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dean O. Bass sold 7,500 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.93, for a total transaction of $171,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 159,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,668,226.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Simmons First National

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Simmons First National Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and other financial products and services to individual and corporate customers. The company was founded on March 23, 1903 and is headquartered in Pine Bluff, AR.