Wesley Miller Welborn Buys 1,162 Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Stock

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn acquired 1,162 shares of SmartFinancial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $34.75 per share, with a total value of $40,379.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 96,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,368,595.50. The trade was a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $36.82 on Friday. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.00 and a 12-month high of $37.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $623.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SmartFinancial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMBK. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 69.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 340,418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,920,000 after purchasing an additional 139,009 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in SmartFinancial by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 336,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,795,000 after buying an additional 10,623 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SmartFinancial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,501 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in SmartFinancial by 23.9% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 184,555 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,378,000 after acquiring an additional 35,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial during the third quarter worth approximately $4,491,000. 58.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SMBK. Stephens lowered SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.70.

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.