Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 36.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,822 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,049 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 2,045.5% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Simmons First National by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Price Performance

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $24.24 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Simmons First National Co. has a 12-month low of $16.03 and a 12-month high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Analysts forecast that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simmons First National news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total transaction of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650. Insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens raised shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

Simmons First National Company 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.