Insider Buying: SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Chairman Acquires 1,162 Shares of Stock

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn purchased 1,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.75 per share, with a total value of $40,379.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 96,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,368,595.50. This represents a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK traded up $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,648. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.16. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.00 and a fifty-two week high of $37.72. 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 company has a market capitalization of $597.71 million, a PE ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.71.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SMBK. Stephens lowered shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.70.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMBK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 340,418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,920,000 after acquiring an additional 139,009 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in SmartFinancial by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 336,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,795,000 after acquiring an additional 10,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in SmartFinancial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,779,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 23.9% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 184,555 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,378,000 after buying an additional 35,565 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter valued at $4,491,000. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About SmartFinancial

SmartFinancial, Inc operates as the bank holding company for SmartBank that provides various financial services to individuals and corporate customers in Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. It operates through Commercial Real Estate, Consumer Real Estate, Construction and Land Development, Commercial and Industrial, Leases, and Consumer and Other segments.