SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the three ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.25.

SMBK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised SmartFinancial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised SmartFinancial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their price objective on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their price objective on SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SmartFinancial news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,938.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 68.0% during 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 acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $159,000. 1492 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in SmartFinancial by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 16,525 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 4.6 %

SmartFinancial stock opened at $20.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $350.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial has a fifty-two week low of $18.86 and a fifty-two week high of $25.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.94.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $65.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.14 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 6.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. Analysts predict that SmartFinancial will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.