Simmons First National (SFNC) Competitors

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership and profitability.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of FHN or SFNC?

80.3% of First Horizon shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Horizon shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Simmons First National shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, FHN or SFNC?

First Horizon has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to FHN or SFNC?

In the previous week, First Horizon had 9 more articles in the media than Simmons First National. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for First Horizon and 6 mentions for Simmons First National. Simmons First National's average media sentiment score of 1.77 beat First Horizon's score of 1.26 indicating that Simmons First National is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Horizon	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Simmons First National	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is FHN or SFNC more profitable?

First Horizon has a net margin of 15.38% compared to Simmons First National's net margin of 10.46%. First Horizon's return on equity of 10.10% beat Simmons First National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Horizon	15.38%	10.10%	1.07%
Simmons First National	10.46%	5.10%	0.65%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, FHN or SFNC?

First Horizon has higher revenue and earnings than Simmons First National. First Horizon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simmons First National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Horizon	$3.11B	3.12	$775M	$1.44	13.12
Simmons First National	$780.57M	3.10	$152.69M	$1.16	16.59

Do analysts rate FHN or SFNC?

First Horizon presently has a consensus target price of $22.03, indicating a potential upside of 16.64%. Simmons First National has a consensus target price of $22.33, indicating a potential upside of 16.08%. Given First Horizon's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Horizon is more favorable than Simmons First National.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Horizon	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Simmons First National	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FHN or SFNC?

First Horizon received 240 more outperform votes than Simmons First National when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.53% of users gave First Horizon an outperform vote while only 47.64% of users gave Simmons First National an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Horizon	Outperform Votes 512 54.53%	Underperform Votes 427 45.47%
Simmons First National	Outperform Votes 272 47.64%	Underperform Votes 299 52.36%

Is FHN or SFNC a better dividend stock?

First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. First Horizon pays out 41.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National pays out 73.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Simmons First National has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Simmons First National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

First Horizon beats Simmons First National on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.