JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 42,771 Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Free Report) by 130.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,527 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 42,771 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.45% of SmartFinancial worth $2,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 78.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,848 shares of the bank's stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 10,055 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,501 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,779,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 6.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 14,925 shares of the bank's stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in SmartFinancial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $917,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in SmartFinancial by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,448 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on SMBK. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $42.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.70.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of SmartFinancial stock traded up $0.76 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 76,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,975. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.46 and a 52 week high of $37.72. The stock has a market cap of $525.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.72.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. SmartFinancial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SmartFinancial news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 1,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.75 per share, for a total transaction of $40,379.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 96,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,368,595.50. This trade represents a 1.21 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 7.62% of the company's stock.

SmartFinancial Company 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.