SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $30.34 and last traded at $30.24, with a volume of 35578 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SMBK. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.00.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $537.48 million, a P/E ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.64 and its 200-day moving average is $24.99.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $68.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.32 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 6.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.51%.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth about $161,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the first quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial in the third quarter valued at approximately $394,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial in the third quarter valued at approximately $415,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in SmartFinancial by 429.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 19,210 shares during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.