Raymond James Reiterates “Strong-Buy” Rating for SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK)

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK)‘s stock had its “strong-buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $42.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price target of $36.00. Raymond James’ target price indicates a potential upside of 18.23% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SMBK. Hovde Group upped their target price on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens cut shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.70.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $35.53 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.74. 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 has a one year low of $19.00 and a one year high of $37.72. The firm has a market cap of $601.44 million, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John M. Presley sold 6,916 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $242,405.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $138,798. This represents a 63.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,516 shares of company stock worth $262,600. Corporate insiders own 7.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMBK. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in SmartFinancial by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 24,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 6.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 14,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,501 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 5,269.2% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

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.