SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at Hovde Group

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) had its price target decreased by Hovde Group from $26.00 to $23.00 in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Hovde Group currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $20.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.92. SmartFinancial has a 52 week low of $18.86 and a 52 week high of $25.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.46 million, a P/E ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is 20.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total transaction of $51,782.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares in the company, valued at $412,938.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $159,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $758,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 31,747 shares of the bank’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

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.