Analysts Set SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target at $40.50

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

SMBK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hovde Group raised SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of SmartFinancial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd.

SmartFinancial Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of SmartFinancial stock opened at $39.65 on Friday. SmartFinancial has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $43.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.49. The company has a market capitalization of $675.16 million, a P/E ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.77.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is currently 10.74%.

SmartFinancial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.13 per share, for a total transaction of $36,013.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 96,468 shares in the company, valued at $4,160,664.84. The trade was a 0.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the business’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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMBK. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,996,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 18.5% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 103,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,508,000 after acquiring an additional 16,202 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 7,285 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in SmartFinancial by 29.2% in the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,229 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,413,000 after purchasing an additional 36,200 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in SmartFinancial by 129.2% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 47,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,609,000 after purchasing an additional 26,855 shares during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.