Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $22.62 and last traded at $22.3650, with a volume of 1008122 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently -33.59%.

Simmons First National declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to buy up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 3rd quarter valued at $129,282,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,419,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $314,764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,763,161 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 325.7% during the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,143,055 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,547,000 after acquiring an additional 874,513 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at $15,744,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Simmons First National by 97.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,469,594 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,702,000 after acquiring an additional 725,489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.