SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) to Buyback $10.00 million in Outstanding Shares

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, January 30th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SMBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Hovde Group upgraded SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $39.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SmartFinancial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

SMBK traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 62,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.45. SmartFinancial has a 52-week low of $26.31 and a 52-week high of $42.96. The company has a market capitalization of $681.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SmartFinancial news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total value of $403,856.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 49,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,231.14. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, operating through its primary subsidiary, SmartBank. Incorporated in 2006, the company provides a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses and public entities across its regional footprint. SmartFinancial’s network of branch offices and digital platforms combines community-banking relationships with modern technology to serve its customers’ evolving needs.

Through SmartBank, the company offers a broad range of deposit products, including checking, savings and certificate of deposit accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.