Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its target price upped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $22.00 to $23.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the bank’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 14.54% from the stock’s previous close.

SFNC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler upgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $21.00 price target on Simmons First National in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.43.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $20.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.25 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.01 and a 200-day moving average of $19.25. Simmons First National has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.44.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $249.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.68 million. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 27.83% and a positive return on equity of 6.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Simmons First National news, Director Steven A. Cosse bought 8,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.44 per share, for a total transaction of $150,036.32. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 113,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,982,090.88. The trade was a 8.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFNC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 12.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,419,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $314,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,763,161 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,630,535 shares of the bank’s stock worth $146,279,000 after buying an additional 169,768 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at $129,282,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,508,330 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,425,000 after acquiring an additional 91,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Simmons First National by 7.3% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,737,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,858,000 after acquiring an additional 254,067 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.