Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Makes New $5.75 Million Investment in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 300,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,751,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.21% of Simmons First National at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 197.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Simmons First National by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 32.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 24.3% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 68.4% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $18.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $22.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of -6.72 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $249.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.68 million. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 6.73% and a negative net margin of 27.83%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $175.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently -30.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Simmons First National has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

About Simmons First National

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company’s core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.