SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at Hovde Group

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) had its target price cut by Hovde Group from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SMBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James upped their price target on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised SmartFinancial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised SmartFinancial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

SMBK opened at $20.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $18.86 and a 52-week high of $25.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.90 million, a PE ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.93.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.02). SmartFinancial had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 6.94%. The business had revenue of $65.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.14 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that SmartFinancial will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SmartFinancial news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $412,938.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in SmartFinancial by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 106,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,607,000 after buying an additional 32,968 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in SmartFinancial by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,382 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,581,000 after buying an additional 34,488 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new stake in SmartFinancial in the fourth quarter worth about $1,872,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter worth about $758,000. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 33,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 11,750 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.