Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy”.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group stock opened at $20.37 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.99 and a 200 day moving average of $19.43. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has a 52 week low of $13.58 and a 52 week high of $24.33. The company has a market cap of $129.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.40.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 9.38%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 927,179 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,521,000 after purchasing an additional 490,891 shares in the last quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,164,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 16.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,036,709 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,095,000 after buying an additional 294,124 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 67.4% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 424,283 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,102,000 after buying an additional 170,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 72.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 101,571 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 42,766 shares during the last quarter. 3.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG) is a Tokyo-based financial holding company that provides a broad range of banking and financial services through a network of domestic and international subsidiaries. Established in 2002 as a holding company for the Sumitomo Mitsui banking operations, SMFG’s core banking business is conducted primarily through its main operating bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), alongside other affiliates covering trust banking, securities, leasing and consumer finance.

The group’s product and service mix spans corporate and commercial banking, retail deposit and loan services, trade and project finance, cash management, syndicated lending, foreign exchange and treasury services, and capital markets and investment banking activities through its securities arm.