Head-To-Head Survey: Truxton (OTCMKTS:TRUX) & Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Truxton (OTCMKTS:TRUX) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Truxton and Simmons First National, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Truxton	0	0	0	0	0.00
Simmons First National	0	5	2	2	2.67

Simmons First National has a consensus price target of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.90%. Given Simmons First National’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Simmons First National is more favorable than Truxton.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.3% of Truxton shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Simmons First National shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Truxton and Simmons First National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Truxton	24.00%	N/A	N/A
Simmons First National	-25.44%	7.81%	1.07%

Volatility & Risk

Truxton has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Truxton pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Truxton pays out 43.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National pays out -33.6% 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 raised 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Truxton and Simmons First National”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Truxton	$92.29 million	3.01	$21.48 million	$8.04	11.94
Simmons First National	$128.73 million	24.33	-$397.55 million	($2.56)	-8.43

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

Summary

Simmons First National beats Truxton on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Truxton

Truxton Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides various banking, investment management, and trust administration services to individuals, businesses, and charitable institutions in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including demand, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also provides lending products, such as residential and commercial real estate mortgages, commercial loans, construction and land development loans, commercial and industrial loans, operating lines of credit, and loans to individual. In addition, the company offers strategic and capital advisory services, business banking, and treasury management services; and insurance products. The company was formerly known as NBT Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Truxton Corporation in May 2013. Truxton Corporation was founded in 2004 and is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

About Simmons First National

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. It also provides ATM services; Internet and mobile banking platforms; overdraft facilities; and safe deposit boxes. The company was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.