SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Hits New 52-Week High After Insider Buying Activity

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $44.51 and last traded at $44.3390, with a volume of 9110 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.55.

Specifically, Director Victor Lynn Barrett acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.78 per share, for a total transaction of $131,340.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 151,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,642,476.72. This represents a 2.02% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cathy G. Ackermann acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $42.12 per share, with a total value of $126,360.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,281.72. The trade was a 17.82% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SMBK. Zacks Research downgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SmartFinancial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.88.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $764.47 million, a P/E ratio of 20.89 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.92.

SmartFinancial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from SmartFinancial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMBK. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 26,373 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 838,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,027,000 after buying an additional 2,268 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 728,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,934,000 after buying an additional 80,639 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 178,374 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,598,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 163,240 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,038,000 after buying an additional 58,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

About SmartFinancial

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.