SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Receives "Strong-Buy" Rating from Raymond James Financial

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "strong-buy" rating restated by equities researchers at Raymond James Financial in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $44.00 target price on the bank's stock, up from their prior target price of $42.00. Raymond James Financial's target price indicates a potential upside of 24.76% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on SMBK. Hovde Group upped their target price on SmartFinancial from $37.50 to $40.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

SmartFinancial stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $35.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 35,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,644. SmartFinancial has a fifty-two week low of $25.58 and a fifty-two week high of $37.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $33.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $600.21 million, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.70.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.03. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 12.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SmartFinancial will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,448 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 4th quarter valued at $580,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 274,947 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,518,000 after purchasing an additional 40,104 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 130.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,527 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,340,000 after purchasing an additional 42,771 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 173.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 40,285 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 25,543 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.