R Squared Ltd Invests $601,000 in SmartFinancial, Inc. $SMBK

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 16,831 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $601,000. R Squared Ltd owned 0.10% of SmartFinancial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 4.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,243 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 5.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 11,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 27.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,160 shares of the bank’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In other SmartFinancial news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $4,160,664.84. This trade represents a 0.87% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $403,856.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,231.14. The trade was a 17.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 7.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SMBK. Hovde Group raised SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded SmartFinancial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

Shares of SmartFinancial stock opened at $39.20 on Friday. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $43.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.68 and its 200 day moving average is $37.40. The stock has a market cap of $667.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

SmartFinancial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

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

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.