Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) Price Target to $56.50

Smartsheet (NYSE:SMAR) had its target price lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $51.00 to $56.50 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SMAR. UBS Group upped their price target on Smartsheet from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Smartsheet from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $56.50 target price (down previously from $60.00) on shares of Smartsheet in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Smartsheet from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, William Blair reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Smartsheet in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smartsheet currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $55.82.

Smartsheet Stock Performance

SMAR opened at $55.34 on Wednesday. Smartsheet has a fifty-two week low of $35.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.32 and a 200 day moving average of $43.52. The firm has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -89.25 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Smartsheet declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smartsheet news, insider Jolene Lau Marshall sold 3,994 shares of Smartsheet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total transaction of $172,181.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,567 shares in the company, valued at $714,203.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Stephen Robert Branstetter sold 1,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $97,891.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 64,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,403,395. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jolene Lau Marshall sold 3,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.11, for a total value of $172,181.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,567 shares in the company, valued at $714,203.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,157 shares of company stock worth $1,762,763. Insiders own 4.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Smartsheet by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Smartsheet by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 181,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,667,000 after purchasing an additional 67,878 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its stake in Smartsheet by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 6,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Smartsheet by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 524,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,069,000 after buying an additional 133,153 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Smartsheet by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 132,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,335,000 after acquiring an additional 54,164 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.