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

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens cut shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James upped their price objective on SmartFinancial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 1.7 %

SMBK opened at $31.24 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. SmartFinancial has a 12 month low of $19.00 and a 12 month high of $37.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $528.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.68.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 11.88% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The firm had revenue of $73.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that SmartFinancial will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at SmartFinancial

In related news, Director John M. Presley sold 6,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 $138,798. This trade represents a 63.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,516 shares of company stock worth $262,600. Corporate insiders own 7.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMBK. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 184,555 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,378,000 after purchasing an additional 35,565 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 320.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 54,574 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after buying an additional 41,602 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 16.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 183,751 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 26,583 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its position in SmartFinancial by 5,760.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 66,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 65,847 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About SmartFinancial

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.