SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,194 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 24,195 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.77% of SmartFinancial worth $4,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 437,793 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,563,000 after acquiring an additional 97,375 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in SmartFinancial by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 336,147 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,795,000 after purchasing an additional 10,623 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 0.4% during 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 274,947 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,518,000 after buying an additional 40,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 208,193 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SmartFinancial news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 1,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.75 per share, with a total value of $40,379.50. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 96,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,368,595.50. This represents a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SmartFinancial Price Performance

NASDAQ:SMBK opened at $28.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $479.64 million, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.59. 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’s fifty day moving average is $32.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.66.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. 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.