M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Makes New $889,000 Investment in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,066 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $889,000. Simmons First National accounts for about 1.0% of M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 33.8% in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,922,000 after buying an additional 27,479 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,339,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,992,851 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,478,000 after acquiring an additional 37,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 131.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,337,000 after acquiring an additional 140,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Simmons First National stock opened at $22.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.87. Simmons First National Co. has a 52-week low of $16.03 and a 52-week high of $25.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.93. 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 (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 82.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,695.14. The trade was a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650. Corporate insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on SFNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded 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 upped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

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.