Brokerages Set SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Price Target at $26.25

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.40.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SMBK. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com raised SmartFinancial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their price target on shares of SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

Shares of SMBK opened at $20.66 on Wednesday. SmartFinancial has a one year low of $18.86 and a one year high of $25.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.93. The company has a market capitalization of $352.40 million, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.51%.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In other news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,091 shares in the company, valued at $412,938.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 68.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter valued at $159,000. 1492 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the 4th quarter valued at $242,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 16,525 shares of the bank’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

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.