Legato Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,476 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $1,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,922,000 after acquiring an additional 27,479 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,866,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,197,000 after purchasing an additional 65,992 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,339,000. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at $824,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,565,000 after buying an additional 170,821 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens cut their price target 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 Down 2.7 %

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $22.51 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 0.86. Simmons First National Co. has a 1-year low of $16.03 and a 1-year high of $25.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.30.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. Simmons First National’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.2125 dividend. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. This represents a 8.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.