Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Upgraded to “Overweight” by Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $28.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $27.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Simmons First National from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC opened at $22.77 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 0.87. Simmons First National has a 12-month low of $13.36 and a 12-month high of $23.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.22 and a 200-day moving average of $19.29.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.91 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.33% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In related news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $76,356.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,928.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $76,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at $1,377,928.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 21,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.58, for a total transaction of $462,243.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,128,128.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,700 shares of company stock worth $728,952. 1.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simmons First National

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 1.1% in the second quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,948 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Simmons First National by 2.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,085 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Simmons First National by 1.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 63,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Simmons First National by 161.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,843 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,077 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

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.