Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 1,123,580 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 1,200,044 shares.The stock last traded at $22.0050 and had previously closed at $21.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SFNC. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of -8.67 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. The firm had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.02 million. Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 25.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently -33.59%.

Simmons First National announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $175.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFNC. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the third quarter worth $129,282,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 12.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,419,609 shares of the bank’s stock worth $314,764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,763,161 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,143,055 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,547,000 after acquiring an additional 874,513 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National in the first quarter worth $15,744,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 97.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,469,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,702,000 after acquiring an additional 725,489 shares during the period. 27.58% of the stock is currently 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.