Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $302,000 Holdings in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 249.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,598 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,710 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,091 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Simmons First National in the fourth quarter worth approximately $889,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 170,821 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,922,000 after purchasing an additional 27,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Simmons First National during the third quarter valued at about $1,339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $22.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.78 and a 200-day moving average of $22.27. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.86.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SFNC. Stephens decreased their target price on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In other news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. The trade was a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.