Carlson Capital L.P. Buys 51,624 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Carlson Capital L.P. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 191.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,624 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Carlson Capital L.P. owned about 0.05% of Simmons First National worth $1,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,079 shares of the bank’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,075 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,339 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SFNC. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.8%

Simmons First National stock opened at $23.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.42 and a 200 day moving average of $21.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.32 and a beta of 0.90. Simmons First National Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $23.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $248.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.98 million. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 8.32% and a negative net margin of 24.64%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is -33.99%.

Simmons First National Company Profile

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.