Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.1429.

Several analysts recently issued reports on SFNC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 target price on Simmons First National in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Simmons First National by 148.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 34,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 20,338 shares during the last quarter. S Harris Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter worth about $293,000. TMB Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National in the fourth quarter worth about $920,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 12,080 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Simmons First National by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $19.46 on Thursday. Simmons First National has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.03 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $249.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Simmons First National will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is presently -31.05%.

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

Simmons First National Company Profile

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.