Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) Raises Dividend to $0.21 Per Share

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.2125 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

Simmons First National has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Simmons First National has a dividend payout ratio of 44.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Simmons First National to earn $1.79 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 46.9%.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $22.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Simmons First National has a 1 year low of $16.03 and a 1 year high of $25.95.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.67 million. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Simmons First National will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Simmons First National

In other Simmons First National news, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.02, for a total value of $366,785.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total value of $128,522.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 64,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,800 shares of company stock worth $1,136,650 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFNC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Simmons First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.