Martingale Asset Management L P Purchases 23,852 Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK - Free Report) by 81.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,238 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 23,852 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.31% of SmartFinancial worth $1,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 78.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,848 shares of the bank's stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 10,055 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in SmartFinancial by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,501 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in SmartFinancial by 6.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 14,925 shares of the bank's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 4th quarter valued at $917,000. 58.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartFinancial

In related news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 1,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 96,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,368,595.50. The trade was a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.68% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, 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 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.70.

SmartFinancial Stock Up 2.2 %

SMBK stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.66. 11,844 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 50,300. The company has a market cap of $487.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.59. The firm's 50-day moving average is $31.87 and its 200-day moving average is $32.63. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.01 and a 12 month high of $37.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. SmartFinancial's dividend payout ratio 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.