Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Decreases Stock Position in SmartFinancial, Inc. $SMBK

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lessened its stake in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 42.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,785 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,730 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in SmartFinancial were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,942 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 17,379 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in SmartFinancial by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 30,767 shares of the bank’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of SmartFinancial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

SMBK stock opened at $37.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $636.19 million, a P/E ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.81. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.31 and a 12-month high of $37.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.78.

SmartFinancial (NASDAQ:SMBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.03. SmartFinancial had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 12.67%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SmartFinancial, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SMBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on SmartFinancial from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded SmartFinancial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Hovde Group increased their target price on SmartFinancial from $37.50 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SmartFinancial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.25.

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.