Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week high after Stephens raised its price target from $24 to $25; MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy but analyst opinions remain mixed.
• The board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.215 (annualized $0.86) for a 4.0% yield and approved a $175 million share buyback program covering up to 5.7% of outstanding shares.
• Simmons reported Q1 EPS of $0.47, in line with estimates, with revenue up 15.2% year-over-year but slightly under expectations, and about 27.6% of the stock is held by institutional investors.

Shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Stephens raised their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $25.00. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Simmons First National traded as high as $22.17 and last traded at $21.9150, with a volume of 1241648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.52.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday. National Bank Financial set a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. 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 on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Simmons First National from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Simmons First National presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simmons First National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Simmons First National by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,632 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,820,000 after buying an additional 18,933 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Simmons First National by 271.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 158,856 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,261,000 after buying an additional 116,072 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Simmons First National by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 73,861 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,516,000 after buying an additional 3,221 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Simmons First National by 3,624.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,036 shares of the bank's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 12,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Simmons First National by 1,288.2% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 18,046 shares of the bank's stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 16,746 shares during the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.5%

The business's 50-day moving average is $20.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -8.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Simmons First National's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Simmons First National's payout ratio is presently -33.59%.

Simmons First National announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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