SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at B. Riley Financial

Research analysts at B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on shares of SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT) in a report issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $1.75 price target on the stock. B. Riley Financial’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 51.52% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SmartRent from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of SmartRent from $1.40 to $1.20 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1.48.

SmartRent Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE SMRT opened at $1.16 on Tuesday. SmartRent has a 12-month low of $0.91 and a 12-month high of $2.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.24. The company has a market cap of $221.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.55 and a beta of 1.64.

SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.01). SmartRent had a negative return on equity of 8.50% and a negative net margin of 12.97%. The business had revenue of $38.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.62 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SmartRent will post -0.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartRent

In other SmartRent news, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian bought 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.40 per share, for a total transaction of $56,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 766,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,072,486.80. The trade was a 5.51% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Frank Martell acquired 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.42 per share, for a total transaction of $142,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 3,672,086 shares in the company, valued at $5,214,362.12. This represents a 2.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 267,000 shares of company stock valued at $378,110 in the last ninety days. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartRent

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of SmartRent by 1,900.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,387,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,081,000 after acquiring an additional 5,118,096 shares during the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in SmartRent by 163.9% during the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,032,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,549,000 after purchasing an additional 3,125,595 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SmartRent in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,463,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SmartRent during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,470,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in SmartRent in the 2nd quarter worth about $564,000. 59.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About SmartRent

SmartRent, Inc provides smart-home and property-management technology for rental housing owners, operators and residents. Its platform is designed to help property managers automate operations, improve the resident experience and manage connected devices across multifamily, single-family rental, student housing and other residential communities.

The company’s offerings include smart access systems, connected thermostats, sensors, leak detection devices and other Internet of Things hardware, supported by cloud-based software.