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

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.00.

SMBK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

Shares of SMBK opened at $30.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $518.20 million, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $19.00 and a 52-week high of $30.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.95.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $68.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.32 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 6.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SmartFinancial will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is 20.51%.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at about $161,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in SmartFinancial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $271,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $394,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter valued at $415,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position 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 worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 19,210 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.