Stifel Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,343 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,657 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.33% of SmartFinancial worth $1,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SmartFinancial in the fourth quarter worth $3,718,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in SmartFinancial by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 437,793 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,563,000 after buying an additional 97,375 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in SmartFinancial by 423.4% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 60,048 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 48,576 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 130.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,527 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 42,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SmartFinancial by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 274,947 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,518,000 after acquiring an additional 40,104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.70.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SMBK opened at $30.50 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.40 and a 1-year high of $37.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $518.96 million, a PE ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.71.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.16%.

About SmartFinancial

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.