Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) Announces $0.21 Quarterly Dividend

Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of 0.2125 per share by the bank on Friday, January 2nd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th.

Simmons First National has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Simmons First National has a dividend payout ratio of 45.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Simmons First National to earn $1.81 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.85 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.0%.

Simmons First National Price Performance

Simmons First National stock opened at $18.10 on Tuesday. Simmons First National has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $25.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.30. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 0.97.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.01). Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 29.70% and a positive return on equity of 5.84%. The company had revenue of $232.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Simmons First National will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on SFNC. Zacks Research downgraded Simmons First National from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Simmons First National from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. National Bankshares set a $22.00 price target on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.33.

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.