The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $1.48 Million Stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,806 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,119 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Simmons First National by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the second quarter valued at $183,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the third quarter worth $205,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Simmons First National news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 over the last 90 days. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Simmons First National Stock Down 0.4 %

Simmons First National stock opened at $24.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $23.61 and its 200 day moving average is $20.84. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $203.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SFNC shares. Stephens raised Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

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.