Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. Acquires New Shares in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,716 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,323,934 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,752,000 after purchasing an additional 413,459 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,677,924 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,498,000 after acquiring an additional 59,495 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 9,443.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,395,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381,353 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,695,000 after acquiring an additional 349,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 705,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,396,000 after purchasing an additional 154,128 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $23.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.32. Simmons First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.36 and a fifty-two week high of $23.74.

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 10.49% and a return on equity of 5.33%. 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 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens upgraded shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $76,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $76,356.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,377,928.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 8,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $190,352.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,909.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,700 shares of company stock worth $728,952. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.