SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Upgraded to Overweight by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $26.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price target of $25.00.

SMBK has been the topic of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their price target on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised SmartFinancial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

Shares of SmartFinancial stock opened at $20.92 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $356.83 million, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.82 and a 200 day moving average of $21.93. SmartFinancial has a 52 week low of $18.86 and a 52 week high of $25.98.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $65.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.14 million. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 10.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SmartFinancial will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at SmartFinancial

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SMBK. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the fourth quarter valued at $1,872,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at $758,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,581,000 after buying an additional 34,488 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 106,463 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after buying an additional 32,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at $292,000. 58.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.