Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 29,586 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $917,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.17% of SmartFinancial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 69.0% during 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in shares of 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, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 70,677 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,190,000 after acquiring an additional 3,390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.78% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In other news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 1,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was purchased 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,368,595.50. This trade represents a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 7.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on SMBK shares. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered shares of SmartFinancial from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.70.

SmartFinancial Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.98. The company had a trading volume of 37,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,198. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.00 and a 12 month high of $37.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.69. The stock has a market cap of $544.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.94 and a beta of 0.67.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. SmartFinancial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

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.