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

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.10.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SMBK shares. Zacks Research downgraded SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $39.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

SMBK stock opened at $39.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.23. The company has a market capitalization of $674.67 million, a P/E ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 0.75. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $26.31 and a 52-week high of $40.08.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is presently 11.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $403,856.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,231.14. This trade represents a 17.55% 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. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 846,978 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,263,000 after buying an additional 26,373 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 1.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 836,529 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,889,000 after acquiring an additional 15,730 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 647,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,136,000 after acquiring an additional 64,810 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 276,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the period. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,996,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.