Persistent Asset Partners Ltd Sells 12,151 Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. $SMBK

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd trimmed its position in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 61.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,485 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,151 shares during the quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd’s holdings in SmartFinancial were worth $267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SmartFinancial during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,996,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,229 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,413,000 after purchasing an additional 36,200 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 158,723 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,360,000 after buying an additional 2,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in SmartFinancial by 4.4% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 127,533 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $41.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.31 and a 52-week high of $43.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $703.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.11.

SmartFinancial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.