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

Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SMBK shares. Hovde Group lifted their target price on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens downgraded shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John M. Presley sold 6,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $242,405.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,798. This trade represents a 63.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 7,516 shares of company stock valued at $262,600 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 24,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 14,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in SmartFinancial by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in SmartFinancial by 4.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in SmartFinancial by 5,269.2% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 1.7 %

SmartFinancial stock opened at $31.24 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. SmartFinancial has a 52 week low of $19.00 and a 52 week high of $37.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $528.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.70.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $73.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.32 million. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SmartFinancial will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is presently 16.49%.

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.