Banc Funds Co. LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Banc Funds Co. LLC cut its position in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 514,713 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 46,185 shares during the quarter. SmartFinancial makes up approximately 1.6% of Banc Funds Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Banc Funds Co. LLC owned about 3.04% of SmartFinancial worth $14,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SMBK. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of SmartFinancial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,491,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its holdings in SmartFinancial by 5,760.9% in the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 66,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 65,847 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 320.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 54,574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 41,602 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 184,555 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,378,000 after purchasing an additional 35,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 699,794 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,054 shares in the last quarter. 58.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SMBK. Raymond James increased their price target on SmartFinancial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of SmartFinancial from $28.00 to $32.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.50.

SmartFinancial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $36.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.00 and a 52-week high of $37.72. The stock has a market cap of $613.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.09.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $73.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.32 million. SmartFinancial had a net margin of 11.88% and a return on equity of 6.81%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Equities analysts predict that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.49%.

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.