Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) CEO Sells $366,785.40 in Stock

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Simmons First National Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $24.83 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.34 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National Co. has a one year low of $15.72 and a one year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upgraded Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the first quarter worth about $31,495,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 9,443.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,395,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,353 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,323,934 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,752,000 after purchasing an additional 413,459 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 104.6% during the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 376,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,610,000 after purchasing an additional 192,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 28.0% in the second quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 705,138 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,396,000 after purchasing an additional 154,128 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.