SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

14 Nov 2024, 01:44 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK – Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 170,448 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 261% from the previous session’s volume of 47,263 shares.The stock last traded at $36.45 and had previously closed at $36.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler cut SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SMBK

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.80 and its 200 day moving average is $26.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $609.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 11.88% and a return on equity of 6.90%. The company had revenue of $73.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. On average, analysts predict that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SmartFinancial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in SmartFinancial by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 789,233 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,629,000 after acquiring an additional 19,490 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 699,794 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,054 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 200,565 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 4,412 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 23.9% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 184,555 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,378,000 after purchasing an additional 35,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in SmartFinancial by 16.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 183,751 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 26,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

About SmartFinancial

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