SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target Raised to $27.00

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) had its price objective hoisted by Stephens from $26.00 to $27.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the company from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SmartFinancial currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $25.60.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

SMBK opened at $23.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $395.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 0.68. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $19.00 and a 52-week high of $25.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.12.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $40.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.98 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 6.88%. Equities analysts anticipate that SmartFinancial will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is currently 20.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total transaction of $51,782.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares in the company, valued at $412,938.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased 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 valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 11,750 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 106,463 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 32,968 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 31,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,581,000 after acquiring an additional 34,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 68.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.