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

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $28.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their previous target price of $27.00. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.16% from the stock’s current price.

SFNC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Simmons First National from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 2nd. One investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $23.11 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National has a 1-year low of $13.36 and a 1-year high of $23.74.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 8,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $190,352.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,909.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 21,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,128,128.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 8,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $190,352.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,909.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,700 shares of company stock worth $728,952. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,495,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 9,443.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,395,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,353 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,323,934 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,752,000 after purchasing an additional 413,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Simmons First National by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 992,678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,695,000 after acquiring an additional 349,534 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.