Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) Cut to “Underweight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $26.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $24.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SFNC. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, July 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, July 17th. National Bank Financial set a $26.00 price target on Simmons First National in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Simmons First National from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $27.50 in a research note on Friday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Simmons First National currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $23.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.14 and a beta of 0.89. Simmons First National has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $24.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.65.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.03). Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 24.64% and a positive return on equity of 8.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Simmons First National’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Simmons First National will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is presently -33.99%.

Institutional Trading of Simmons First National

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFNC. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 156.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 197.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Simmons First National by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Simmons First National during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Simmons First National by 96.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,091 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.