SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Raised to “Overweight” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $26.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their prior target price of $25.00.

SMBK has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded SmartFinancial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James upped their target price on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of SMBK stock opened at $20.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $20.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.93. The company has a market cap of $356.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial has a 1-year low of $18.86 and a 1-year high of $25.98.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $65.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.14 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 6.94%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SmartFinancial will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,938.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMBK. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in SmartFinancial by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at approximately $159,000. 1492 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 16,525 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

About SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for SmartBank that provides various financial services to individuals and corporate customers in Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. It operates through Commercial Real Estate, Consumer Real Estate, Construction and Land Development, Commercial and Industrial, Leases, and Consumer and Other segments.