SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to Overweight

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) was upgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $26.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their prior target price of $25.00. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.40% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of SmartFinancial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SmartFinancial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.80.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 4.6 %

SmartFinancial stock opened at $20.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $18.86 and a 52-week high of $25.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.94. The firm has a market cap of $350.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.69.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $65.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.14 million. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 10.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts predict that SmartFinancial will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In related news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $412,938.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,872,000. 1492 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in SmartFinancial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $242,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 34,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 11,750 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by 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.