SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Hovde Group upgraded SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $39.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.50.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 0.4%

SMBK opened at $42.58 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $725.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 0.75. SmartFinancial has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $43.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

SmartFinancial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $403,856.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,231.14. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 46.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in SmartFinancial by 173.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,895 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 24.3% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,243 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in SmartFinancial by 209.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,105 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

About SmartFinancial

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.