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

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.00.

A number of research firms have commented on SFNC. Zacks Research lowered shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFNC opened at $21.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Simmons First National has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $22.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.34 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.76.

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

Simmons First National announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $175.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simmons First National

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 156.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

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.