SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SMBK shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

SmartFinancial Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $29.23 on Tuesday. SmartFinancial has a 1 year low of $19.00 and a 1 year high of $29.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.20. The stock has a market cap of $498.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $68.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.32 million. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 6.60% and a net margin of 9.93%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that SmartFinancial will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is 20.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 5,760.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 66,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,586,000 after buying an additional 65,847 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in SmartFinancial by 41.7% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,870 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,179,000 after purchasing an additional 44,407 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 41,602 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 699,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 48.6% during the 4th 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. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.