Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 625,580 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 76,120 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.50% of Simmons First National worth $13,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in Simmons First National by 2,045.5% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Simmons First National by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Simmons First National during the third quarter worth about $205,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In related news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,640,391.50. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650 over the last 90 days. 1.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $24.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 82.35%.

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.