Key Points
- Director Kelli Shomaker bought 290 shares on May 4 at an average price of $41.30, raising her holdings by 15.85% to 2,120 shares, as disclosed in an SEC filing.
- Dividend raised — the company increased its quarterly payout to $0.09 (annualized $0.36) with an ex-dividend date of May 15 and payment on June 1, up from $0.08.
- The Board approved a $10.0 million share buyback (about 1.5% of outstanding shares), institutional investors now own 58.78% of the stock, and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $45.88 target.
SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Get Free Report) Director Kelli Shomaker acquired 290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $41.30 per share, for a total transaction of $11,977.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,120 shares in the company, valued at $87,556. The trade was a 15.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.
SmartFinancial Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ SMBK opened at $41.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $704.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 0.73. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.78 and a 52 week high of $43.90. The company's 50-day moving average price is $40.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.
SmartFinancial Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from SmartFinancial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. SmartFinancial's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.54%.
SmartFinancial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMBK. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 150.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 51,972 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 31,255 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,481 shares of the bank's stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 263.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 42,385 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 30,715 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 46,565 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 4,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SMBK shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Hovde Group raised shares of SmartFinancial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.88.
Get Our Latest Report on SMBK
SmartFinancial Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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