SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) Director Purchases $10,041.90 in Stock

SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Director Kelli Shomaker purchased 255 shares of SmartFinancial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.38 per share, for a total transaction of $10,041.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,246.36. This represents a 33.25% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of SMBK stock opened at $40.02 on Friday. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.31 and a 1-year high of $42.96. The company has a market cap of $681.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.45.

SmartFinancial declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in SmartFinancial by 150.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 51,972 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 31,255 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,481 shares of the bank’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 263.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 42,385 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 30,715 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in SmartFinancial by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,442 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in SmartFinancial by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 12,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares during the period. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMBK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $39.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Hovde Group upgraded SmartFinancial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on SmartFinancial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.50.

SmartFinancial Company Profile

SmartFinancial, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, operating through its primary subsidiary, SmartBank. Incorporated in 2006, the company provides a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses and public entities across its regional footprint. SmartFinancial’s network of branch offices and digital platforms combines community-banking relationships with modern technology to serve its customers’ evolving needs.

Through SmartBank, the company offers a broad range of deposit products, including checking, savings and certificate of deposit accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending solutions.