Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on SFNC. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.00.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Shares of SFNC opened at $21.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 0.89. Simmons First National has a fifty-two week low of $13.36 and a fifty-two week high of $21.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.82 and its 200-day moving average is $18.36.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $195.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.35 million. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 11.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Simmons First National will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simmons First National news, EVP George A. Makris III sold 15,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $269,218.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $684,151.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,577,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 66,037 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 31,284 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 50.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 188,822 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,674,000 after acquiring an additional 63,589 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,603,937 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,822,000 after acquiring an additional 69,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 532,415 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,563,000 after acquiring an additional 2,415 shares in the last quarter. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.