Cullen Capital Management LLC Buys 8,825 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Cullen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,319 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,825 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 40,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 13,124 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Simmons First National by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,822 shares of the bank’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 9,049 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at about $354,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $18.26 on Friday. Simmons First National Co. has a 12-month low of $16.03 and a 12-month high of $25.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 0.84.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.2125 per share. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 70.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens dropped their price target 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 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.