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

Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens boosted their target price on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. 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, March 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, April 17th. Zacks Research lowered Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFNC. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,313,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,751,000. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,177,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 12.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,419,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $314,764,000 after buying an additional 1,763,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 2.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,630,535 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,279,000 after buying an additional 169,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $21.90 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of -8.55 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Simmons First National has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $22.62.

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

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

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