| Over a month ago | ||||
Billy Carroll, President… Billy Carroll, President & CEO, stated: "We posted a solid quarter and closed the books on another successful year where we made a number of outstanding foundational strides. Our team continues to focus on steady growth of our performance metrics and we remain bullish on our opportunities to move the company forward and continuing growth of shareholder value." | ||||
| Over a quarter ago | ||||
SmartFinancial, the… SmartFinancial, the parent company for SmartBank, announced that its board of directors has approved the initiation of a regular quarterly dividend. On November 6, the board of SmartFinancial declared a quarterly cash dividend of 5c per share of SmartFinancial common stock payable on December 6 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 21. | ||||
DA Davidson analyst Kevin… DA Davidson analyst Kevin Fitzsimmons upgraded SmartFinancial to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $25, up from $23.50 following the company's Q3 earnings report and the announcement that it will acquire Progressive Financial. In a research note to investors, Fitzsimmons says he views SmartFinancial as benefiting from "healthy" geographic markets, less pressure on funding costs an an accretive deal, with more likely in the coming quarters. He also thinks the stock stands more to gain from the Fed's recently signaled pause in cutting rates. | ||||
Conference call to… Conference call to discuss agreement to acquire Progressive Financial Group Inc. will be held on October 30 at 10am. Webcast Link | ||||
SmartFinancial, parent… SmartFinancial, parent company of SmartBank, and Progressive Financial, parent company of Progressive Savings Bank, announced their entry into an agreement and plan of merger pursuant to which SmartFinancial will acquire Progressive. As of September 30, 2019, Progressive had approximately $296 million of total assets, $258 million in deposits, $190 million in net loans and six branches across Cookeville, Crossville, Jamestown, and Wartburg, Tennessee. The proposed transaction will bolster SmartFinancial's presence in Tennessee and, based on market share data as of June 30, 2019, SmartFinancial will become the 7th largest community bank by deposits in Tennessee, with total consolidated assets in excess of $2.7 billion. The transaction consideration, which is comprised of 1,292,592.556 shares of SmartFinancial stock and $14.6 million of cash, is valued on an aggregate basis at approximately $41.4 million, based on SmartFinancial's closing stock price on October 28, 2019. Based on Progressive's tangible common equity as of September 30, 2019, the implied price to tangible book value is approximately 124%. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions including the approval of Progressive shareholders and the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020. | ||||
Reports Q3 tangible book… Reports Q3 tangible book value per share $16.37. Reports Q3 net charge-offs .01%. Reports Q3 CET1 capital ratio 12.71%. Billy Carroll, president & CEO, stated, "This was another very solid quarter for our company, as we are starting to see the positive results of our recent integration initiatives. Our continued focus on organic growth and cost savings are allowing us to drive stronger profitability, which has positioned us well for the future." | |
As previously reported,… As previously reported, Raymond James analyst Daniel Cardenas downgraded SmartFinancial to Market Perform from Outperform, stating that his rating change is based "solely" on valuation. He thinks the company is well positioned for a pickup in balance sheet and revenue growth, but notes that shares currently trade at a premium compared to its micro-cap peer group multiple. | |
Raymond James analyst… Raymond James analyst Daniel Cardenas downgraded SmartFinancial to Market Perform from Outperform saying the current valuation reflects the company's risk/reward profile. | |
Billy Carroll, President… Billy Carroll, President & CEO, stated: "This was a very solid quarter for our company. We took advantage of a very positive earnings event, restructured our finance team and centralized our deposit operations, while showing strong core deposit growth and nice core earnings. We are positioned well to continue building on our strong foundation." | |
DA Davidson analyst Kevin… DA Davidson analyst Kevin Fitzsimmons initiated SmartFinancial (SMBK) with a Neutral rating and a price target of $24. The analyst notes that the company may be on the lookout for accretive deals following its recently terminated merger of equals with Entegra Financial (ENFC) and is positive on its "steady, high single-digit" loan growth rate, but also notes that the stock valuation is in line with its peers and its net interest margin may face some headwinds. |