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.

SMFG has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of SMFG stock opened at $26.11 on Tuesday. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $14.92 and a fifty-two week high of $26.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.09.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The bank reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.31 billion during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a net margin of 15.68% and a return on equity of 10.19%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PFS Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the first quarter worth $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the third quarter worth $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 76.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayban acquired a new stake in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Company Profile

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.