Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.21

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.2125 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

Simmons First National has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Simmons First National has a dividend payout ratio of 44.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Simmons First National to earn $1.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.5%.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SFNC traded up $0.18 on Thursday, reaching $22.77. 469,234 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 611,091. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.18. Simmons First National has a 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. Simmons First National’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. This represents a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares in the company, valued at $15,336,427.87. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SFNC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.