Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Holdings in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in SmartFinancial, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBK) by 423.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,048 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,576 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in SmartFinancial were worth $1,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 valued at $9,920,000 after buying an additional 139,009 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in SmartFinancial by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 336,147 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,795,000 after acquiring an additional 10,623 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 23.9% during the third 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, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of SmartFinancial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 70,677 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SMBK has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens cut shares of SmartFinancial from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of SmartFinancial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.70.

Insider Activity at SmartFinancial

In other news, Chairman Wesley Miller Welborn bought 1,162 shares of SmartFinancial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $34.75 per share, with a total value of $40,379.50. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 96,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,368,595.50. The trade was a 1.21 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 7.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SmartFinancial Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of SMBK stock opened at $31.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SmartFinancial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.00 and a 12 month high of $37.72. The stock has a market cap of $529.87 million, a P/E ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.61.

SmartFinancial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. SmartFinancial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.