Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Stock Price

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its price objective increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SFNC. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday. National Bank Financial set a $25.00 price target on Simmons First National in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.50.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC opened at $22.61 on Monday. Simmons First National has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.94 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.84.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $248.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.98 million. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 8.32% and a negative net margin of 24.64%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Simmons First National will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -33.99%.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 156.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 197.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 27.58% of the stock is 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.