Stephens Lowers Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Price Target to $28.00

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Stephens from $29.00 to $28.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 25.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, 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 given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Simmons First National currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.38. The company had a trading volume of 85,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 601,308. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48 and a beta of 0.87. Simmons First National has a one year low of $16.03 and a one year high of $25.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.01. 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 (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208,673.17 billion. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.12%. The business’s revenue 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simmons First National news, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total transaction of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 608,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,336,427.87. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This represents 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. Corporate insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Simmons First National by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,091 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Simmons First National in the fourth quarter worth about $889,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Simmons First National by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 676,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,565,000 after acquiring an additional 170,821 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 646,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,922,000 after purchasing an additional 27,479 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Simmons First National in the third quarter worth $1,339,000. 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.