Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SFNC shares. Zacks Research cut Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Simmons First National by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Simmons First National by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,079 shares of the bank’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Simmons First National by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Simmons First National by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Simmons First National by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,339 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

NASDAQ SFNC opened at $22.00 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.59 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Simmons First National has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $22.62.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 7.81% and a negative net margin of 25.44%.The company had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.02 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Simmons First National’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Simmons First National will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.59%.

About Simmons First National

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company’s core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.