Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Price Target Cut to $21.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $21.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the bank’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 8.21% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Raymond James Financial raised Simmons First National from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Simmons First National currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.14.

Simmons First National Stock Up 2.4%

SFNC stock traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.41. The company had a trading volume of 803,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,060. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 0.91. Simmons First National has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.17.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. Simmons First National had a positive return on equity of 6.73% and a negative net margin of 27.83%.The business had revenue of $249.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $175.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simmons First National

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SFNC. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 27.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,632 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 18,933 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Simmons First National by 271.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 158,856 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,261,000 after buying an additional 116,072 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 73,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,221 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 3,624.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,036 shares of the bank’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 12,686 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Simmons First National by 1,288.2% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 18,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 16,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

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.