Piper Sandler Upgrades SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) to “Overweight”

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $26.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $25.00.

A number of other research firms have also commented on SMBK. Raymond James increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded SmartFinancial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $25.40.

SmartFinancial Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ SMBK opened at $20.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $352.46 million, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial has a one year low of $18.86 and a one year high of $25.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.92. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is 20.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartFinancial

In other SmartFinancial 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $412,938.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth $159,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth $758,000. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 33,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 11,750 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 31,747 shares of the bank’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 106,463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,607,000 after purchasing an additional 32,968 shares during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by 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.