Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Given New $28.00 Price Target at Stephens

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its price target trimmed by Stephens from $29.00 to $28.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.2 %

Simmons First National stock opened at $22.40 on Thursday. Simmons First National has a 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208,673.17 billion. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. Simmons First National’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Simmons First National will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 69.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Simmons First National news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,336,427.87. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,391.50. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simmons First National

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,091 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the 4th quarter worth $889,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 33.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,565,000 after purchasing an additional 170,821 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Simmons First National by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,922,000 after purchasing an additional 27,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the third quarter valued at about $1,339,000. Institutional investors own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Simmons First National Company Profile

Simmons First National Corporation operates as the holding company for Simmons Bank that provides banking and other financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposits; consumer, real estate, and commercial loans; agricultural finance, equipment, and small business administration lending; trust and fiduciary services; credit cards; investment management products; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services.