JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $14.57 Million Stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 33.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 170,821 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $14,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 105.9% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 13.7% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,129 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter worth $205,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $20.96 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.70. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.03 and a fifty-two week high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is presently 82.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SFNC shares. Stephens raised Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Activity

In other Simmons First National news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

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.