Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 21.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 551,806 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 153,764 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $10,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 146,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,811,000 after acquiring an additional 50,145 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter worth $1,810,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the second quarter valued at approximately $861,000. Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 396.5% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 164,577 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,155,000 after purchasing an additional 131,431 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SFNC shares. Wall Street Zen raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price objective on Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.43.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Simmons First National stock opened at $19.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Simmons First National Corporation has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $22.17. The company has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.90 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.46.

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

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is -30.69%.

Simmons First National announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.