SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Plans $0.08 Quarterly Dividend

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, NASDAQ reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the bank on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th.

SmartFinancial has a dividend payout ratio of 14.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect SmartFinancial to earn $2.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.9%.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

SmartFinancial stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.66. The company had a trading volume of 41,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,517. The company has a market capitalization of $352.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.69. SmartFinancial has a 12-month low of $18.86 and a 12-month high of $25.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.78 and its 200-day moving average is $21.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.02). SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 6.94% and a net margin of 10.65%. The firm had revenue of $65.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.14 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that SmartFinancial will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on SmartFinancial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised SmartFinancial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler raised shares of SmartFinancial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.40.

Insider Activity

In other SmartFinancial news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,938.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

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.