Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

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

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $22.79 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 0.87. Simmons First National has a 12 month low of $16.03 and a 12 month high of $25.95.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SFNC shares. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simmons First National

In related news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were 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 directly owns 156,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. This represents a 8.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 $1,640,391.50. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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.

Simmons First National Company Profile

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.