Simmons First National Corp. earned $5.94 million in the first quarter, down 6.6 percent from $6.36 million in the same period last year, the Pine Bluff bank reported Thursday.

For the quarter, Simmons earned 37 cents a share, equal to 37 cents earned in the same period last year.

The earnings matched the projection of 37 cents by two analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Simmons earnings per share in this year’s first quarter does not include $146,000 in merger related expenses associated with Simmons’ acquisitions last year.

Shares of Simmons rose 31 cents Thursday to close at $24.23 in trading on the Nasdaq exchange.

Simmons added about $45 million in loans in the first quarter, excluding the loans it gained from bank acquisitions.

Since 2010, Simmons has acquired banks in Olathe, Kan., and in Springfield, St. Louis and Sedalia, Mo.

That loan growth “coupled with strong asset quality, bodes well for the balance of the year,” said J. Thomas May, Simmons’ chairman and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement.

Simmons, like the other public banks in the state, is finding loan growth a challenge.

“All the Arkansas publicly traded banks came in below expectations in loan growth this quarter,” said Matt Olney, an analyst with Stephens Inc.

Olney owns no Simmons stock.

Stephens has received compensation for products or services other than investment banking services from Simmons in the past 12 months.

George Makris, a longtime director who has been tapped to replace May when he retires at the end of this year,said during a conference call Thursday that Simmons hired an experienced loan officer in the Kansas City market in the fall.

“He has already put $18 million [in loans] on our books,” Makris said.

Simmons is targeting banks in the range of $250 million to $750 million in assets to acquire, May said.

Simmons is primarily focused on making traditional acquisitions, although the bank is still open to buying failed banks through the federal government, May said.

“[Healthy banks] are going to be a big part of our focus,” May said. “We have been a traditional acquirer for years and we’ve done a good job integrating those. We believe we are positioned very well to continue that process.”

Simmons has 96 offices in 55 cities in Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas.

Business, Pages 25 on 04/19/2013