Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $3.26 Million Stock Position in SmartFinancial, Inc. $SMBK

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in SmartFinancial by 10.6%, selling 12,417 shares and retaining 104,914 shares valued at approximately $3.26 million.
• SmartFinancial's earnings exceeded expectations with an EPS of $0.69, up from $0.46 in the same period last year, alongside a dividend yield of 0.8%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for SmartFinancial, with price targets ranging from $38.00 to $44.00.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its stake in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 104,914 shares of the bank's stock after selling 12,417 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of SmartFinancial worth $3,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SMBK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 437,793 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,563,000 after buying an additional 97,375 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in SmartFinancial by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 276,458 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SmartFinancial by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 156,591 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,866,000 after acquiring an additional 9,122 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in SmartFinancial by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 87,634 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 27,586 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the first quarter worth $2,196,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SMBK. Zacks Research raised shares of SmartFinancial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on SmartFinancial from $37.50 to $40.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SmartFinancial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.25.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SmartFinancial stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 47,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,595. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.31 and a 1-year high of $37.92. 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 $628.89 million, a P/E ratio of 17.27 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.92.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.03. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 12.67%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. SmartFinancial's payout ratio is presently 12.96%.

SmartFinancial Profile

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.