SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com 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 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.10.

SMBK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hovde Group increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock 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 research report on Monday, October 27th.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SMBK opened at $37.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $642.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SmartFinancial has a twelve month low of $26.31 and a twelve month high of $40.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.97.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SmartFinancial news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $403,856.25. Following the sale, the director owned 49,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,231.14. This 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 hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMBK. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in SmartFinancial by 150.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 51,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 31,255 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 263.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 42,385 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 30,715 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 156,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,866,000 after acquiring an additional 9,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial in the 1st quarter valued at $535,000. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

SmartFinancial, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, operating through its primary subsidiary, SmartBank. Incorporated in 2006, the company provides a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses and public entities across its regional footprint. SmartFinancial’s network of branch offices and digital platforms combines community-banking relationships with modern technology to serve its customers’ evolving needs.

Through SmartBank, the company offers a broad range of deposit products, including checking, savings and certificate of deposit accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.