Simmons First National increases stock repurchase plan to $180 million

Pine Bluff-based Simmons First National Corp. announced Thursday (March 5) that its board of directors has approved an amendment to the company’s stock repurchase program that increases the amount of common stock that may be repurchased from a maximum of $60 million to $180 million.

The program was originally approved on Oct. 17, 2019, and to date, Simmons has repurchased approximately $31.6 million of its common stock under the program.

Simmons First National Corp. trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol “SFNC”. The company’s stock closed Thursday at $21.18. It has traded over the past 52 weeks at a low of $20.70 and a high of $27.29.

“The board’s decision to expand the size of our stock repurchase program reflects our continued confidence in the strength and long-term prospects of our business,” said George Makris, Jr., the Company’s chairman and CEO. “We remain committed to leveraging our strong balance sheet to responsibly reduce the number of outstanding shares of our common stock, which we continue to believe is an attractive investment, particularly at current trading prices.”

The stock buyback program permits Simmons to repurchase shares of its common stock through open market and privately negotiated transactions or otherwise.

The timing, pricing, and amount of any repurchases under the program will be determined by the company’s management at its discretion based on a variety of factors.

The program will terminate on Oct. 31, 2021 unless terminated sooner.