11,234 Shares in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC Acquired by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 11,234 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Simmons First National by 119.9% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,483,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,509,000 after buying an additional 1,899,407 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Simmons First National by 140.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,518,806 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,181,000 after buying an additional 887,603 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Simmons First National by 1,179.6% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 969,027 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,894,000 after buying an additional 893,298 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 691,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,193,000 after acquiring an additional 17,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 668,003 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,714,000 after acquiring an additional 7,279 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, COO Steenberg Christopher J. Van acquired 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.50 per share, with a total value of $249,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,750. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Russell William Teubner acquired 9,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.62 per share, for a total transaction of $171,304.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 53,220 shares in the company, valued at $990,956.40. The trade was a 20.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 100,755 shares of company stock worth $1,865,332 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.75.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.9%

SFNC stock opened at $19.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.94. Simmons First National Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.20 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $214.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $217.21 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 5.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.93%.

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.