Piper Sandler Lowers SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) to Neutral

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) was downgraded by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $28.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $26.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.57% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on SMBK. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Hovde Group dropped their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SmartFinancial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ SMBK opened at $27.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. SmartFinancial has a 52 week low of $19.00 and a 52 week high of $28.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.33. The company has a market cap of $474.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 0.71.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.05. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 6.60%. The business had revenue of $68.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that SmartFinancial will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In related news, Director John M. Presley sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.65, for a total transaction of $169,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $794,403.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMBK. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in SmartFinancial by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,916 shares of the bank’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 1,474 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 16,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 106,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 32,968 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 33,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 11,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,382 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 34,488 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

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.