Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Price Target Raised to $25.00

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its price objective lifted by Stephens from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

SFNC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $21.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.27 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Simmons First National has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.17.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The business had revenue of $241.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.02 million. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 25.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Simmons First National will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.215 dividend. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is -33.59%.

Simmons First National declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simmons First National

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 197.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 42.5% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 32.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

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.