SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives $40.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.8750.

SMBK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Hovde Group raised SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartFinancial

In related news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn purchased 835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $43.13 per share, with a total value of $36,013.55. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 96,468 shares in the company, valued at $4,160,664.84. This trade represents a 0.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 6.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 801.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,607 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 30,769 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the third quarter valued at $1,143,000. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 83.4% in the third quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 84,570 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after acquiring an additional 38,466 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 132,067 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,885,000 after acquiring an additional 16,367 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the third quarter valued at $724,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SMBK opened at $41.99 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.36. SmartFinancial has a 1-year low of $29.63 and a 1-year high of $43.90. The company has a market cap of $718.01 million, a PE ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 0.76.

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

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.26%.

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.