Jefferies Financial Group Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR)

Jefferies Financial Group reissued their hold rating on shares of Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $56.50 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $60.00.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Smartsheet from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson reissued a buy rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Friday, September 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Smartsheet from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Smartsheet from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Friday, September 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $56.21.

Smartsheet Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMAR opened at $55.33 on Tuesday. Smartsheet has a one year low of $35.52 and a one year high of $55.60. The company has a market cap of $7.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.24 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.43.

Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.15. Smartsheet had a negative return on equity of 4.29% and a negative net margin of 4.07%. The company had revenue of $276.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.23 million. Smartsheet’s revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Smartsheet will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

Smartsheet declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 2,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $96,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 61,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,965,968. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Mark Patrick Mader sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $1,035,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 588,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,486,096.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 2,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $96,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 61,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,965,968. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,157 shares of company stock worth $1,762,763. 4.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Smartsheet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Smartsheet during the second quarter worth $92,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smartsheet in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,122,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Smartsheet by 541.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 6,093 shares in the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP raised its holdings in Smartsheet by 145.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 207,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,164,000 after acquiring an additional 123,204 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smartsheet during the second quarter worth $6,400,000. 90.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Smartsheet

Smartsheet, Inc engages in managing and automating collaborative work. Its platform provides solutions that eliminate the obstacles to capturing information, including a familiar and intuitive spreadsheet interface as well as easily customizable forms. The company was founded by W. Eric Browne, Maria Colacurcio, John D.