SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• SmartFinancial has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from seven analysts, with four holds, two buys and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $50.42.
• Analysts recently adjusted their targets, including Benchmark raising its objective to $60 and Raymond James maintaining a strong-buy rating with a $58 target.
• Institutional investors own 58.78% of SmartFinancial, while the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share, equating to a 0.7% annual yield.

Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.42.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on SmartFinancial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in SmartFinancial during the 2nd quarter worth $371,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 17.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 6,570 shares of the bank's stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in SmartFinancial by 106.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 15,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,965 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,746,000. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 0.6%

SMBK stock opened at $49.86 on Friday. SmartFinancial has a one year low of $33.01 and a one year high of $54.14. The stock has a market cap of $852.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.89. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. SmartFinancial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.62%.

About SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial, Inc is a bank holding company that operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, SmartBank. The company provides community banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions, with offerings that include deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, business loans and other credit products.

SmartBank also provides treasury management and cash-management services for businesses, along with mortgage banking, wealth management and related financial services.

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