SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Stock Crosses Below Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)’s share price crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.99 and traded as low as $38.11. SmartFinancial shares last traded at $38.3570, with a volume of 58,192 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMBK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Hovde Group upgraded SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.50.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $655.79 million, a P/E ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 0.77.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.74%.

SmartFinancial announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at SmartFinancial

In other news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn acquired 835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $43.13 per share, with a total value of $36,013.55. Following the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 96,468 shares in the company, valued at $4,160,664.84. This represents a 0.87% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMBK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 3.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 846,978 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,263,000 after acquiring an additional 26,373 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 838,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 728,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,934,000 after purchasing an additional 80,639 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 178,374 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,598,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 163,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,038,000 after purchasing an additional 58,560 shares during the period. 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.