Simmons First National Co. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.21 (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 8th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share by the bank on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th.

Simmons First National has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Simmons First National has a dividend payout ratio of 51.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Simmons First National to earn $1.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.2%.

Simmons First National Stock Performance

Shares of SFNC stock opened at $24.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Simmons First National has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.04. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $203.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Simmons First National’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Simmons First National will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens raised Simmons First National from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of Simmons First National stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total transaction of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,695.14. The trade was a 8.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 in the last ninety days. 1.91% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.