StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Summit Financial Group (NASDAQ:SMMF)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Summit Financial Group (NASDAQ:SMMF) in a research note published on Monday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Summit Financial Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SMMF opened at $25.03 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.86. Summit Financial Group has a 1 year low of $17.06 and a 1 year high of $31.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $367.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Summit Financial Group (NASDAQ:SMMF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.01. Summit Financial Group had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $72.32 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Summit Financial Group will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Summit Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Summit Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.04%.

Institutional Trading of Summit Financial Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Summit Financial Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,895 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Summit Financial Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 15,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Summit Financial Group by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 46,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Summit Financial Group by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,741 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC lifted its stake in Summit Financial Group by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 3,589 shares of the bank’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. 35.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Summit Financial Group

Summit Financial Group, Inc operates as a financial holding company for Summit Community Bank, Inc that provides community banking and other financial services to individuals and businesses primarily in the Eastern Panhandle, Southern and North Central regions of West Virginia and the Northern, Shenandoah Valley, and Southwestern regions of Virginia, and the Central region of Kentucky.