Shinhan Financial Group (NYSE:SHG) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shinhan Financial Group Co Ltd (NYSE:SHG)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $68.25, but opened at $72.61. Shinhan Financial Group shares last traded at $71.1550, with a volume of 99,146 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SHG. Zacks Research upgraded Shinhan Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Shinhan Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Shinhan Financial Group Stock Up 2.4%

The company has a market cap of $33.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.51.

Shinhan Financial Group (NYSE:SHG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 14th. The bank reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. Shinhan Financial Group had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 22.38%. Sell-side analysts predict that Shinhan Financial Group Co Ltd will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shinhan Financial Group by 5.3% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,576,735 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,420,000 after acquiring an additional 78,768 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Shinhan Financial Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,498,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,490,000 after buying an additional 7,518 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Shinhan Financial Group by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,089,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,893,000 after acquiring an additional 110,787 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Shinhan Financial Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 686,044 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,556,000 after acquiring an additional 3,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Shinhan Financial Group by 152.0% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 582,570 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,689,000 after purchasing an additional 351,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.76% of the company’s stock.

About Shinhan Financial Group

Shinhan Financial Group is a South Korea–based financial holding company headquartered in Seoul. Established in 2001 as a banking and financial services group, it brings together a range of financial subsidiaries operating under the Shinhan brand, including commercial banking, card services, life insurance, securities and asset management businesses. The group serves both retail and corporate clients and is one of the leading diversified financial institutions in Korea.

The company’s principal activities span retail and corporate banking, credit card issuance and payment services, life insurance and related protection products, brokerage and investment banking, and asset and wealth management.