SmartFinancial’s (SMBK) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities researchers at Stephens in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $26.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ target price points to a potential upside of 24.28% from the company’s current price.

SMBK has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $20.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.83 million, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial has a 52 week low of $18.86 and a 52 week high of $25.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartFinancial

In other news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $412,938.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter valued at $159,000. 1492 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 4th quarter worth about $242,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter valued at $292,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in SmartFinancial by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 16,525 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.