Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Sold by Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 10.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 625,580 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 76,120 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $13,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in Simmons First National by 2,045.5% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 13.7% during the third 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 grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 29.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter valued at $183,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $24.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National Co. has a 1-year low of $16.03 and a 1-year high of $25.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.62.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 5.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In related news, 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 transaction of $366,785.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. The trade was a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at $15,336,427.87. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 over the last three months. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.