Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Short Interest Down 15.2% in February

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a decrease of 15.2% from the February 13th total of 2,430,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 615,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $462,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 235,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,216,000 after buying an additional 52,089 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd raised its stake in Simmons First National by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 16,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 4,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC opened at $20.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.49. Simmons First National has a 1 year low of $16.03 and a 1 year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The company had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Simmons First National will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.