SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $32.64 and last traded at $32.64, with a volume of 9072 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lowered shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SmartFinancial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.50.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 4.3 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $564.10 million, a PE ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 0.69.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 6.55%. The business had revenue of $73.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

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

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.