Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 6,275 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,627 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,275 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 33.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,565,000 after purchasing an additional 170,821 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 131.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 247,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,337,000 after purchasing an additional 140,738 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 515,690 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,438,000 after buying an additional 109,866 shares during the last quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC raised its position in Simmons First National by 231.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC now owns 137,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,959,000 after buying an additional 95,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter worth $1,468,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens reduced their price objective on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Simmons First National Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of SFNC opened at $20.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Simmons First National Co. has a 1 year low of $16.03 and a 1 year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.25%.

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.