Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in SmartFinancial, Inc. $SMBK

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in SmartFinancial, Inc. by 2.8%, now owning about 4.67% of the company, valued at approximately $24.7 million.
• Other institutional investors, such as Tower Research Capital and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their positions in SmartFinancial, indicating growing confidence in the company.
• SmartFinancial recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.69, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.9% and a payout ratio of 12.96%.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 794,867 shares of the bank's stock after selling 23,205 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.67% of SmartFinancial worth $24,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in SmartFinancial by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,091 shares of the bank's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in SmartFinancial by 269.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,538 shares of the bank's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in SmartFinancial by 282.9% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,489 shares of the bank's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,839 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in SmartFinancial by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,331 shares of the bank's stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 19,400.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company's stock.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

SmartFinancial stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $36.78. The stock had a trading volume of 35,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,737. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.31 and a 1 year high of $37.72. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $35.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.64. The stock has a market cap of $625.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.76.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.03. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 12.67% and a return on equity of 7.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on SMBK. 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 note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on SmartFinancial from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.25.

About SmartFinancial

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.