Rather & Kittrell Inc. Takes $642,000 Position in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Rather & Kittrell Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 22,028 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000. Rather & Kittrell Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of SmartFinancial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth about $161,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in SmartFinancial during the first quarter valued at $271,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth about $394,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $415,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 429.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,688 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 19,210 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SMBK opened at $36.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.49. The firm has a market cap of $611.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.00 and a 1 year high of $37.72.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 11.88% and a return on equity of 6.90%. The firm 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.