SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Stock Rating Upgraded by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Piper Sandler currently has $26.00 price target on the bank's stock, up from their prior price target of $25.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James raised their price target on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised SmartFinancial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

Shares of SMBK stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.92. The company had a trading volume of 75,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,009. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $20.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.93. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $18.86 and a 52-week high of $25.98. The stock has a market cap of $356.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 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 (NASDAQ:SMBK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $65.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.14 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 10.65% and a return on equity of 6.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that SmartFinancial will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at SmartFinancial

In other news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at about $159,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at about $758,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in SmartFinancial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 31,747 shares of the bank's stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in SmartFinancial by 68.0% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,008 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in SmartFinancial by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 33,427 shares of the bank's stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 11,750 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is 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.