SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives $40.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Hovde Group raised shares of SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $39.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised SmartFinancial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of SMBK opened at $43.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $734.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.69. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $26.31 and a 52-week high of $43.90.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is 10.74%.

SmartFinancial declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In related news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $403,856.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,231.14. The trade was a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 846,978 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,263,000 after purchasing an additional 26,373 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in SmartFinancial by 1.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 836,529 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,889,000 after purchasing an additional 15,730 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in SmartFinancial by 11.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 647,512 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,136,000 after buying an additional 64,810 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SmartFinancial in the second quarter valued at about $5,996,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 29.2% during the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,229 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,413,000 after buying an additional 36,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

SmartFinancial, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, operating through its primary subsidiary, SmartBank. Incorporated in 2006, the company provides a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses and public entities across its regional footprint. SmartFinancial’s network of branch offices and digital platforms combines community-banking relationships with modern technology to serve its customers’ evolving needs.

Through SmartBank, the company offers a broad range of deposit products, including checking, savings and certificate of deposit accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.