Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) CAO David W. Garner Sells 3,600 Shares

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $76,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,377,928.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Simmons First National stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.85. The stock had a trading volume of 124,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,568. Simmons First National Co. has a 1 year low of $13.36 and a 1 year high of $22.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 0.88.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $372.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.30 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.33% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 6.0% in the second 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. Simmons Bank increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 9.8% in the fourth 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. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 3.7% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,677,924 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,498,000 after purchasing an additional 59,495 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Simmons First National by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,603,937 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,822,000 after acquiring an additional 69,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at $27,751,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

About Simmons First National

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.