Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Issues Earnings Results

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208,673.17 billion. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.3 %

Simmons First National stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.79. 802,959 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 614,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Simmons First National has a 52-week low of $16.03 and a 52-week high of $25.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.97.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is 82.35%.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In other news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. The trade was a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

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.