SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Director Purchases $126,360.00 in Stock

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Director Cathy Ackermann bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.12 per share, with a total value of $126,360.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,281.72. This trade represents a 17.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ SMBK traded up $1.05 on Thursday, hitting $41.70. The company had a trading volume of 72,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 70,337. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.95 and a 12-month high of $43.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.57. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $712.95 million, a P/E ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 0.73.

SmartFinancial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from SmartFinancial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is presently 11.54%.

Institutional Trading of SmartFinancial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 3.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 846,978 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,263,000 after buying an additional 26,373 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 838,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,027,000 after buying an additional 2,268 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 728,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,934,000 after buying an additional 80,639 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 178,374 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,598,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 163,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,038,000 after buying an additional 58,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.