Maltese Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 81,322 Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Maltese Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 81,322 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,559,000. Maltese Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Simmons First National at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.6%

SFNC opened at $18.72 on Tuesday. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $22.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of -6.76 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is -31.05%.

Simmons First National declared that its board has authorized 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Simmons First National 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.