Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $23.40 and last traded at $23.23, with a volume of 1144385 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson restated 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 upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Simmons First National Stock Up 1.4%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.07 and a beta of 0.90.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 25.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $241.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.59%.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 6.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 15,392 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 121.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 2,388 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 137.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 45,329 shares of the bank’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 26,250 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital L.P. increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 191.2% in the 1st quarter. Carlson Capital L.P. now owns 78,624 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 51,624 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 624,613 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,149,000 after buying an additional 123,732 shares during the period. 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.