SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $37.03 and last traded at $36.76, with a volume of 13405 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SMBK. Piper Sandler lowered SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Hovde Group increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.50.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $623.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.67.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $73.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.32 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 11.88% and a return on equity of 6.90%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.49%.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMBK. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 5,269.2% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth $161,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial in the 1st quarter worth $271,000. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at about $394,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at about $415,000. 58.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.