Simmons First National (SFNC) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility & risk, SFNC or WBS?

Simmons First National has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Webster Financial has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer SFNC or WBS?

Simmons First National presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.23%. Webster Financial has a consensus target price of $61.58, suggesting a potential upside of 3.38%. Given Webster Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly 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)	2 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

Which has better 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	$1.37B	2.09	$175.06M	$1.02	22.27
Webster Financial	$4.18B	2.44	$768.71M	$4.37	13.63

Does the media refer more to SFNC or WBS?

In the previous week, Webster Financial had 20 more articles in the media than Simmons First National. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Webster Financial and 4 mentions for Simmons First National. Webster Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.64 beat Simmons First National's score of 0.32 indicating that Webster Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Simmons First National	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Webster Financial	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	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 3.7%. Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Simmons First National pays out 82.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Webster Financial pays out 36.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Simmons First National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in SFNC or WBS?

27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Webster Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Simmons First National shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Webster Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SFNC or WBS?

Webster Financial received 264 more outperform votes than Simmons First National when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.68% of users gave Webster Financial an outperform vote while only 47.62% of users gave Simmons First National an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Simmons First National	Outperform Votes 270 47.62%	Underperform Votes 297 52.38%
Webster Financial	Outperform Votes 534 58.68%	Underperform Votes 376 41.32%

Is SFNC or WBS more profitable?

Webster Financial has a net margin of 18.39% compared to Simmons First National's net margin of 8.94%. 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	8.94%	5.15%	0.65%
Webster Financial	18.39%	10.82%	1.21%

Summary

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