Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 26,311 Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,311 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 33.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,565,000 after buying an additional 170,821 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 131.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,337,000 after buying an additional 140,738 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 515,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,438,000 after buying an additional 109,866 shares during the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 231.6% during the third quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 137,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after buying an additional 95,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,468,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $20.39 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.96 and its 200-day moving average is $22.49. Simmons First National Co. has a 12-month low of $16.03 and a 12-month high of $25.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 0.84.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The business had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.