Inspire Investing LLC Acquires Shares of 14,252 SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,252 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000. Inspire Investing LLC owned about 0.08% of SmartFinancial as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SMBK. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in SmartFinancial by 429.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 59,437 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 4,375 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 130,361 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 24,979 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 150,870 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,179,000 after acquiring an additional 44,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 2.5% in the 1st 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SMBK. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of 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 note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of SMBK stock opened at $30.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $518.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.00 and a 12-month high of $30.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.55 and a 200-day moving average of $24.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $68.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.32 million. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 6.55% and a net margin of 9.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is 20.51%.

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.