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

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.4286.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SFNC. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, National Bankshares set a $21.00 price objective on Simmons First National in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 146,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,811,000 after acquiring an additional 50,145 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 705.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 122,145 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,316,000 after purchasing an additional 106,986 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Simmons First National by 396.5% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 164,577 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,155,000 after purchasing an additional 131,431 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Simmons First National in the second quarter worth $518,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Simmons First National during the second quarter worth $279,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $21.77 on Wednesday. Simmons First National has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.67 and its 200-day moving average is $19.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.86 and a beta of 0.93.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Simmons First National will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

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.