Wesley Miller Welborn Acquires 835 Shares of SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Stock

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn purchased 835 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.13 per share, for a total transaction of $36,013.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 96,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,160,664.84. The trade was a 0.87% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

SmartFinancial Trading Down 0.4%

SmartFinancial stock opened at $41.89 on Thursday. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.31 and a 52 week high of $43.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $713.34 million, a PE ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.83.

SmartFinancial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is 10.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMBK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Hovde Group raised shares of SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $39.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.50.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in SmartFinancial in the third quarter worth about $35,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 46.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 173.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,895 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 209.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,105 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 1,424 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,243 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

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.