Latest news with #WilliamCarroll
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘I am full of joy': Africatown Welcome Center breaks ground
AFRICATOWN, Ala. (WKRG) — After years of planning and preparation, community leaders broke ground Monday on a new Africatown Welcome Center. City of Mobile, Oak View Group set groundbreaking for new arena 'Right now, I am full of joy,' community leader Cleon Jones said. The new welcome center will sit on Bay Bridge Cutoff Road just off Africatown Boulevard. 'A project of this size and this magnitude that encompasses the beliefs of everybody in the area brings about a feeling of hope and new beginnings,' Mobile City Councilman William Carroll said. This project costs $5.1 million and is funded completely through the RESTORE Act. The welcome center will be a starting place for visitors to learn about the Freedom Town created by the 110 slaves brought to Mobile Bay on the Clotilda, 50 years after the international slave trade was abolished in the U.S. The center will have meeting rooms, exhibition spaces and outdoor areas for festivals and other performances. 'We have a story to tell and an obligation to tell that story,' Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. The building will also kick off tours like the Africatown Freedom tour group. 'This is what you call world history, so by being world history, people need to know this little part of history needs to be told to the whole world,' Africatown Freedom tour organizer Chiquitta Clemons-Howard said. October London coming to Mobile Saenger Theatre Construction is expected to take about a year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
19-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Husband rushes to tell wife he won big in lottery. ‘We are going to enjoy this'
A lottery player 'had to catch his breath' after he hit the jackpot in North Carolina. Then, he rushed to tell his wife he was getting richer. He invited her to Raleigh, where six-figure prize winners must go to cash in on their lucky N.C. Education Lottery tickets, according to game rules. 'I called her and told her, 'Meet me in Raleigh,'' William Carroll told lottery officials in a May 16 news release. 'We are going to enjoy this.' Carroll took his prize home to the town of Nashville, a roughly 45-mile drive northeast from Raleigh. He won $202,012 in Wheel of Bonuses, a progressive jackpot game that offers online tickets starting at 50 cents. Carroll spent $30 on his ticket, which beat 1-in-a-million odds to win the game's top-tier 'epic' jackpot prize. He couldn't believe his luck. 'I was trying to catch my breath,' the jackpot winner told lottery officials. 'I was just stunned.' Carroll 'needed some time to compose himself,' but he didn't waste much time before basking in the special moment with his wife. He kept $144,953 after taxes and plans to put his prize money toward bills, according to officials. 'I've never experienced anything like that,' Carroll said. 'I was pumped.' It's not the first time a husband immediately shared the news of his windfall. Another North Carolina lottery winner told his wife right away, but she thought he was joking, McClatchy News reported in March 2024.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SmartFinancial Inc (SMBK) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Loan and Deposit Growth Amid ...
Net Income: $11.3 million or $0.67 per diluted share. Tangible Book Value: $23.61 per share including AOCI impacts; $24.76 excluding AOCI impacts. Loan Growth: 9% annualized pace for Q1. Deposit Growth: 10% quarter-over-quarter annualized. Nonperforming Assets: 19 basis points. Total Revenue: $46.8 million. Net Interest Margin: 3.21%. Non-Interest Income: $8.6 million. Non-Interest Expenses: Just over $32 million. Loan-to-Deposit Ratio: 83%. Average Portfolio Yield: 5.97%. Provision Expense for Credit Losses: $979,000. Net Charge-Offs: 0.01% on an annualized basis. Allowance for Credit Losses: 0.96% of total loans. Effective Tax Rate: Approximately 17%. Consolidated TCE Ratio: 7.6%. Total Risk-Based Capital Ratio: 11.2%. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 1 Warning Sign with SMBK. Release Date: April 22, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. SmartFinancial Inc (NYSE:SMBK) reported a strong start to 2025 with a net income of $11.3 million or $0.67 per diluted share. The company achieved a 9% annualized growth in loans and a 10% growth in deposits, demonstrating solid balance sheet growth. Tangible book value increased to $23.61 per share, reflecting a 9% annualized growth quarter-over-quarter. Non-interest income was robust at $8.6 million, driven by strong insurance and mortgage banking revenues. The company maintained a low loan-to-deposit ratio of 83%, providing flexibility to fund future growth. The net interest margin slightly decreased to 3.21%, reflecting the impact of prior quarter rate cuts. There was a minor reduction in non-interest-bearing deposits, affecting the deposit composition. The weighted average yield on new loan originations decreased slightly, impacting overall portfolio yield. Operating expenses remained flat at $32.3 million, indicating limited cost reduction efforts. The company faces competitive pressure in loan pricing, which could impact future growth margins. Q: Can you talk about what you're seeing at a ground level with your customers and why you believe in your ability to hit loan growth targets? A: William Carroll, President and CEO, stated that despite market volatility, their markets remain strong. They are in constant communication with clients, who report stable business conditions. Rhett Jordan, Chief Credit Officer, added that clients are optimistic and not seeing significant impacts from tariffs, maintaining positive business outlooks. Q: How should we think about expectations around leveraging the balance sheet and the loan-to-deposit ratio? A: William Carroll explained that they have room to grow prudently, focusing on maintaining strong returns and appropriate loan structures. Ronald Gorczynski, CFO, mentioned they have about $150 million in cash that could be lent out, indicating potential for balance sheet growth without drastic changes. Q: What are your thoughts on share repurchases given the current stock price? A: Ronald Gorczynski noted they have $1.5 million left in their current authorization for share repurchases. William Carroll added that traditionally, they consider buybacks closer to book value, and they are positioned to make purchases if needed. Q: How would potential Fed rate cuts impact your margin guidance? A: Ronald Gorczynski stated that being slightly liability sensitive, they would benefit slightly from rate cuts. They anticipate a neutral to positive impact on margins if rate cuts occur earlier than expected. Q: Can you discuss the competitive landscape for new loan pricing? A: William Carroll mentioned that new loan production is coming in around 7%, with some competitive pressure in the market. They are maintaining their pricing and structure, which has not deterred growth. Rhett Jordan added that they are seeing some competitors pushing pricing aggressively. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
With 57% ownership of the shares, SmartFinancial, Inc. (NYSE:SMBK) is heavily dominated by institutional owners
Institutions' substantial holdings in SmartFinancial implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price A total of 18 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership Insiders have sold recently If you want to know who really controls SmartFinancial, Inc. (NYSE:SMBK), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 57% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future. Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about SmartFinancial. View our latest analysis for SmartFinancial Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices. As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in SmartFinancial. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see SmartFinancial's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. SmartFinancial is not owned by hedge funds. The company's largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc., with ownership of 8.5%. With 7.6% and 4.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Kenneth Lehman and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. In addition, we found that William Carroll, the CEO has 1.0% of the shares allocated to their name. After doing some more digging, we found that the top 18 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company. Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily. While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves. I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of SmartFinancial, Inc.. Insiders have a US$89m stake in this US$566m business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling. The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 27% stake in SmartFinancial. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for SmartFinancial you should be aware of. But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
