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

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SMBK shares. Hovde Group upgraded 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. Zacks Research cut SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of SmartFinancial stock opened at $38.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $663.14 million, a P/E ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.77. SmartFinancial has a fifty-two week low of $26.31 and a fifty-two week high of $43.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.73.

SmartFinancial declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartFinancial

In other SmartFinancial news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn acquired 835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.13 per share, with a total value of $36,013.55. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 96,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,160,664.84. This represents a 0.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 176.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,325 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 14,240 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 107.9% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 26,651 shares of the bank’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,834 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,967 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,217,000 after purchasing an additional 8,354 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 78,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 728,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,934,000 after purchasing an additional 80,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

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.