SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.10.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SMBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on SmartFinancial from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $39.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 1.5%

SMBK stock opened at $38.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.10. The company has a market cap of $657.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 0.75. SmartFinancial has a 12-month low of $26.31 and a 12-month high of $40.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.68%.

Insider Transactions at SmartFinancial

In related news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $403,856.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,231.14. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SMBK. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,996,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in SmartFinancial by 11.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 647,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,136,000 after purchasing an additional 64,810 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,614,000. North Reef Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 38,466 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 134.9% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 63,519 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

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.