Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Price Target Raised to $26.00

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SFNC. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $26.00 to $27.50 in a report on Friday. National Bank Financial set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.21.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $23.69 on Friday. Simmons First National has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $24.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.59.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.03). Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 8.32% and a negative net margin of 24.64%.Simmons First National’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Simmons First National’s dividend payout ratio is presently -33.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simmons First National

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter valued at about $129,282,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Simmons First National by 1,978.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,734,238 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,580,000 after acquiring an additional 3,554,556 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Simmons First National by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,143,055 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,547,000 after acquiring an additional 874,513 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA acquired a new stake in Simmons First National in the 1st quarter worth about $15,744,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Simmons First National by 97.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,469,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,702,000 after purchasing an additional 725,489 shares in 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.