Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target to $24.00

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.16% from the company’s current price.

SMBK has been the topic of a number of other reports. 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 research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded SmartFinancial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised shares of SmartFinancial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $20.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $355.53 million, a P/E ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial has a 12 month low of $18.86 and a 12 month high of $25.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.92.

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

Insider Transactions at SmartFinancial

In related news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial in the third quarter worth about $159,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $758,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in SmartFinancial by 68.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 31,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

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.