Hovde Group Lowers SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target to $23.00

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) had its price target lowered by Hovde Group from $26.00 to $23.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised shares of SmartFinancial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SmartFinancial presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $20.66 on Wednesday. SmartFinancial has a twelve month low of $18.86 and a twelve month high of $25.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.73 and its 200 day moving average is $21.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $352.46 million, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.69.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total transaction of $51,782.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $412,938.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMBK. Salzhauer Michael lifted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 243,467 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 33,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in SmartFinancial in the 4th quarter valued at $1,872,000. 1492 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in SmartFinancial in the 4th quarter valued at $242,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

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.