Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $1.69 Million Stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC – Get Rating) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,411 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.06% of Simmons First National worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. MAS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the 1st quarter worth $489,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 101,845 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,670,000 after acquiring an additional 9,182 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 28,625 shares of the bank’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Simmons First National by 96.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 63,466 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 31,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Simmons First National by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 59,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 21,233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.33% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $16.77 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.82 and its 200-day moving average is $20.35. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $14.68 and a 52-week high of $25.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.81.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $324.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.80 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 8.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 43.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 25th.

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, EVP Stephen C. Massanelli bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.23 per share, with a total value of $45,690.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,147,260.67. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Stephen C. Massanelli acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.23 per share, with a total value of $45,690.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 75,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,260.67. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen C. Massanelli acquired 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $148,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,812.05. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 43,675 shares of company stock valued at $710,780 over the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company 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.