SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives $40.50 Average PT from Analysts

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

A number of research firms have weighed in on SMBK. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of 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 upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of SmartFinancial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $403,856.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,231.14. This trade represents a 17.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in SmartFinancial by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 103,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,508,000 after buying an additional 16,202 shares in the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,996,000. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in SmartFinancial by 58.7% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 19,700 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 7,285 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 129.2% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 47,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,609,000 after acquiring an additional 26,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 1.4% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 158,723 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ SMBK opened at $43.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $734.50 million, a PE ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SmartFinancial has a 12 month low of $26.31 and a 12 month high of $43.90.

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

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.74%.

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.