SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.50.

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

SmartFinancial Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of SmartFinancial stock opened at $39.20 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.68 and a 200-day moving average of $37.42. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $26.31 and a 52-week high of $43.90. The stock has a market cap of $667.53 million, a PE ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.77.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.74%.

SmartFinancial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $43.13 per share, with a total value of $36,013.55. Following the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 96,468 shares in the company, valued at $4,160,664.84. This represents a 0.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $403,856.25. Following the sale, the director directly owned 49,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,231.14. This trade represents a 17.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMBK. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 107.9% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 26,651 shares of the bank’s stock worth $986,000 after buying an additional 13,834 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in SmartFinancial by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,967 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,217,000 after acquiring an additional 8,354 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 78,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 728,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,934,000 after acquiring an additional 80,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 127.3% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 46,075 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 25,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

About SmartFinancial

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.