Wall Street Zen Upgrades Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) to Hold

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SFNC. Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on Simmons First National from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC stock traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $20.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,107,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 636,658. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Simmons First National has a 1 year low of $17.20 and a 1 year high of $25.95. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $19.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 0.92.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.24% and a net margin of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $214.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $217.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.2125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.28%.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 76,711 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mustard Seed Financial LLC now owns 34,402 shares of the bank's stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,600 shares of the bank's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,058 shares of the bank's stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 35.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the bank's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Simmons First National Company Profile

Simmons First National Corporation operates as the holding company for Simmons Bank that provides banking and other financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposits; consumer, real estate, and commercial loans; agricultural finance, equipment, and small business administration lending; trust and fiduciary services; credit cards; investment management products; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services.