SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SMBK shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Hovde Group upped their price objective on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SMBK opened at $36.14 on Friday. SmartFinancial has a twelve month low of $19.00 and a twelve month high of $37.72. The firm has a market cap of $611.49 million, a PE ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $73.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.32 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 11.88% and a return on equity of 6.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that SmartFinancial will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 429.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,688 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 19,210 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in SmartFinancial by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 59,437 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in SmartFinancial by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 130,361 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 24,979 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 41.7% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,870 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,179,000 after buying an additional 44,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 789,233 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,629,000 after buying an additional 19,490 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

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.