Foundry Partners LLC Buys 32,968 Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 44.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,463 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,968 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC owned approximately 0.63% of SmartFinancial worth $2,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth about $159,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter worth about $758,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in SmartFinancial by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 31,747 shares of the bank’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in SmartFinancial by 68.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in SmartFinancial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $292,000. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $19.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $335.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.86 and a fifty-two week high of $25.98.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $65.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.14 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 7.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SMBK shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SmartFinancial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.50.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In related news, EVP Gary Wayne Petty, Jr. sold 2,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $51,782.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $412,938.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.