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

Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.4286.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $21.00 price target 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 company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Simmons First National by 52.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 146,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 50,145 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in Simmons First National in the third quarter worth approximately $1,810,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the 2nd quarter worth $861,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 396.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in Simmons First National in the 2nd quarter worth $279,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $19.44 on Friday. Simmons First National has a 12 month low of $17.00 and a 12 month high of $22.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.02 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.22 and a 200 day moving average of $19.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $249.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.68 million. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 6.73% and a negative net margin of 27.83%.The company’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.215 dividend. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -30.69%.

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.