Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $27.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Hovde Group decreased their price objective on SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Piper Sandler raised SmartFinancial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $27.00.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $27.84 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.33. SmartFinancial has a twelve month low of $19.00 and a twelve month high of $28.65. The stock has a market cap of $474.95 million, a P/E ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 0.71. 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 (NASDAQ:SMBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.05. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 6.60% and a net margin of 9.93%. The firm had revenue of $68.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that SmartFinancial will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SmartFinancial news, Director John M. Presley sold 7,500 shares of SmartFinancial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.65, for a total value of $169,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $794,403.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMBK. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 19.8% in the 4th 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. grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 16,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 106,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,607,000 after buying an additional 32,968 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 33,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 11,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,382 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,581,000 after buying an additional 34,488 shares during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is 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.