SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target Raised to $46.00

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $42.00 to $46.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

SMBK has been the subject of several other reports. Hovde Group upgraded SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.88.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

SMBK opened at $41.96 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.32. The company has a market capitalization of $717.41 million, a PE ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 0.76. SmartFinancial has a 1 year low of $29.63 and a 1 year high of $43.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.26%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartFinancial

In related news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $43.13 per share, for a total transaction of $36,013.55. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 96,468 shares in the company, valued at $4,160,664.84. The trade was a 0.87% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 13,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. 1492 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the 1st quarter worth $270,000. AGP Franklin LLC bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the 1st quarter worth $457,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 176.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 14,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.