Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 6,310 Shares of SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 77,745 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,310 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in SmartFinancial were worth $2,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SMBK. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 23.9% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 184,555 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,378,000 after purchasing an additional 35,565 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 78.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 10,055 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 335,501 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 6.9% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 14,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of SmartFinancial by 69.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 340,418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,920,000 after purchasing an additional 139,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMBK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated 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. Stephens cut SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.70.

SmartFinancial Stock Performance

NASDAQ SMBK opened at $31.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $526.91 million, a PE ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.61. 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 $19.00 and a 1-year high of $37.72.

SmartFinancial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SmartFinancial

In related news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 1,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.75 per share, for a total transaction of $40,379.50. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 96,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,368,595.50. This trade represents a 1.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.