Simmons First National Corporation Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.22 (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.215 per share by the bank on Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th.

Simmons First National has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Simmons First National has a payout ratio of 46.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Simmons First National to earn $2.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.86 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.3%.

Simmons First National Price Performance

SFNC stock opened at $21.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.89. Simmons First National has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $22.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.39 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 7.81% and a negative net margin of 25.44%.The company had revenue of $241.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SFNC. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Stephens lifted their price target on Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Simmons First National from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Simmons First National Company Profile

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company’s core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.