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

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $208,673.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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 NASDAQ:SFNC traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.79. 802,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 614,445. The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 0.87. Simmons First National has a 52-week low of $16.03 and a 52-week high of $25.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.28 and a 200 day moving average of $21.97.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Simmons First National

In other news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman George Makris, Jr. sold 25,440 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.21, for a total value of $641,342.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 608,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,336,427.87. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SFNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simmons First National from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upgraded shares of Simmons First National from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simmons First National presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.00.

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.

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