Simmons First National (SFNC) Competitors

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) and Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, earnings, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SFNC or WBS?

Webster Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Simmons First National. Webster Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simmons First National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Simmons First National	$1.46B	1.86	$152.69M	$1.21	17.89
Webster Financial	$4.18B	2.29	$768.71M	$4.37	12.76

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of SFNC or WBS?

27.6% of Simmons First National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Webster Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Simmons First National shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Webster Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SFNC or WBS?

Webster Financial received 264 more outperform votes than Simmons First National when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.73% of users gave Webster Financial an outperform vote while only 47.71% of users gave Simmons First National an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Simmons First National	Outperform Votes 271 47.71%	Underperform Votes 297 52.29%
Webster Financial	Outperform Votes 535 58.73%	Underperform Votes 376 41.27%

Is SFNC or WBS more profitable?

Webster Financial has a net margin of 18.39% compared to Simmons First National's net margin of 10.46%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 10.82% beat Simmons First National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Simmons First National	10.46%	5.10%	0.65%
Webster Financial	18.39%	10.82%	1.21%

Does the media refer more to SFNC or WBS?

In the previous week, Webster Financial had 7 more articles in the media than Simmons First National. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Webster Financial and 0 mentions for Simmons First National. Webster Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat Simmons First National's score of 0.00 indicating that Webster Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Simmons First National	Neutral
Webster Financial	Positive

Is SFNC or WBS a better dividend stock?

Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Simmons First National pays out 69.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Webster Financial pays out 36.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Simmons First National has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Simmons First National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, SFNC or WBS?

Simmons First National has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Webster Financial has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate SFNC or WBS?

Simmons First National currently has a consensus target price of $23.33, suggesting a potential upside of 7.78%. Webster Financial has a consensus target price of $62.08, suggesting a potential upside of 11.35%. Given Webster Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Webster Financial is more favorable than Simmons First National.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Simmons First National	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Webster Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Summary

Webster Financial beats Simmons First National on 17 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.