R Squared Ltd Buys Shares of 16,831 SmartFinancial, Inc. $SMBK

R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,831 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $601,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 3.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 846,978 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,263,000 after purchasing an additional 26,373 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 4,234 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 7,302.5% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 9,031 shares of the bank’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 8,909 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 4.1% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 20,515 shares of the bank’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the period. Finally, Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc purchased a new stake in SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at $241,000. 58.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on SMBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research 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, Hovde Group upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.50.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

Shares of SMBK opened at $39.20 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.31 and a 52 week high of $43.90. The stock has a market cap of $667.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.77.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid 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 yield of 0.8%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.74%.

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

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In other news, Director Steven B. Tucker sold 10,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.01, for a total transaction of $403,856.25. Following the sale, the director directly owned 49,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,231.14. This trade represents a 17.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $43.13 per share, for a total transaction of $36,013.55. Following the purchase, the chairman owned 96,468 shares in the company, valued at $4,160,664.84. This represents a 0.87% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 7.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.