Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $19.33 and traded as high as $19.53. Simmons First National shares last traded at $19.34, with a volume of 1,224,192 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFNC has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simmons First National currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.43.

Simmons First National Stock Down 2.3%

The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of -6.84 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 6.73% and a negative net margin of 27.83%.The firm had revenue of $249.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.215 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is -31.05%.

Simmons First National declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,079 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Simmons First National by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,075 shares of the bank’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Simmons First National by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 21,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Simmons First National by 32.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.