King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,141 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 50,562 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned approximately 0.13% of Simmons First National worth $3,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the 4th quarter valued at $27,751,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 131.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 475,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,429,000 after purchasing an additional 270,255 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 1,977,793 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,239,000 after purchasing an additional 175,716 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,041,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,951,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Simmons First National news, EVP George A. Makris III sold 15,625 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $269,218.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,151.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens decreased their target price on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.48. The stock had a trading volume of 12,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,310. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.90. Simmons First National Co. has a 1 year low of $13.36 and a 1 year high of $20.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.30 and a 200 day moving average of $18.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $195.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.35 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 11.97% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.81%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Simmons First National 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.