Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SFNC. Zacks Research downgraded Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.43.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $20.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of -7.25 and a beta of 0.89. Simmons First National has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In other news, Director Steven A. Cosse bought 8,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.44 per share, for a total transaction of $150,036.32. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 113,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,982,090.88. This trade represents a 8.19% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFNC. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 705.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 122,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after acquiring an additional 106,986 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 7.6% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 74,955 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 5,298 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the second quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in Simmons First National during the second quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Simmons First National by 12.4% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 136,519 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,588,000 after purchasing an additional 15,053 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.