Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Reduces Holdings in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,763 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in SmartFinancial were worth $674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $394,000. Rather & Kittrell Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter valued at $642,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 5,269.2% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350 shares during the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In other news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn purchased 1,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.75 per share, with a total value of $40,379.50. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 96,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,368,595.50. This represents a 1.21 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John M. Presley sold 6,916 shares of SmartFinancial stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $242,405.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $138,798. This trade represents a 63.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,466 shares of company stock worth $262,044. 7.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lowered shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.70.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $34.79 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $588.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.03. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.00 and a twelve month high of $37.72.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. SmartFinancial’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

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.