Simmons First National Co. (SFNC) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 14th

Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

Simmons First National has raised its dividend by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Simmons First National has a dividend payout ratio of 44.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFNC opened at $22.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.20. Simmons First National has a 1-year low of $16.03 and a 1-year high of $25.95. 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 (NASDAQ:SFNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 10.46%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Simmons First National will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David W. Garner sold 5,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.25, for a total transaction of $128,522.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 64,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,640,391.50. This trade represents a 7.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert A. Fehlman sold 15,270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 156,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,695.14. This trade represents a 8.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,136,650. 1.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.