Canaccord Genuity Group Reaffirms Hold Rating for Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR)

Canaccord Genuity Group restated their hold rating on shares of Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a $56.50 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $60.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SMAR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Smartsheet from $51.00 to $56.50 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and issued a $56.50 price target (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Smartsheet in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Smartsheet in a report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Smartsheet from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Smartsheet from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smartsheet presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $55.82.

Smartsheet Stock Performance

Smartsheet stock opened at $55.34 on Wednesday. Smartsheet has a one year low of $35.52 and a one year high of $55.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.32 and a 200 day moving average of $43.52. The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of -89.25 and a beta of 0.74.

Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $276.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.23 million. Smartsheet had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a negative return on equity of 4.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Smartsheet will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smartsheet announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Smartsheet

In related news, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 2,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $96,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 61,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,965,968. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 2,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $96,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 61,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,965,968. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Patrick Mader sold 20,000 shares of Smartsheet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $1,035,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 588,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,486,096.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,157 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,763 over the last 90 days. 4.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smartsheet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMAR. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Smartsheet during the 2nd quarter worth about $92,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smartsheet in the second quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Smartsheet by 541.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 6,093 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP boosted its holdings in Smartsheet by 145.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 207,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,164,000 after acquiring an additional 123,204 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Smartsheet in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,400,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

Smartsheet Company Profile

Smartsheet, Inc engages in managing and automating collaborative work. Its platform provides solutions that eliminate the obstacles to capturing information, including a familiar and intuitive spreadsheet interface as well as easily customizable forms. The company was founded by W. Eric Browne, Maria Colacurcio, John D.