Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Price Target to $22.00

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Simmons First National from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Sunday, July 21st. Stephens lowered their price objective on Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Simmons First National has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $21.75.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $21.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.39. Simmons First National has a 52 week low of $13.36 and a 52 week high of $22.29.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $372.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.30 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.33% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Simmons First National will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simmons First National news, EVP George A. Makris III sold 15,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total transaction of $269,218.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $684,151.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFNC. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at $31,495,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the 4th quarter valued at $27,751,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at $10,723,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Simmons First National by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,695,000 after acquiring an additional 349,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Simmons First National by 131.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 475,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,429,000 after acquiring an additional 270,255 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Simmons First National

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.