Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:MFG) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $9.86 and last traded at $9.6550, with a volume of 348070 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Mizuho Financial Group from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Mizuho Financial Group Trading Up 1.3%

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.01.

Mizuho Financial Group (NYSE:MFG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The bank reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. Mizuho Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 12.31%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mizuho Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MFG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Mizuho Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,642,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Mizuho Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,005,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mizuho Financial Group by 36.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,862 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Mizuho Financial Group by 65.1% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 244,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 96,566 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mizuho Financial Group during the third quarter worth $912,000. 3.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mizuho Financial Group Company Profile

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc is a major Japanese banking and financial services holding company headquartered in Tokyo. The group operates through a network of subsidiaries that provide a full range of retail, corporate and investment banking services. Its core businesses include deposit-taking and lending, transaction banking, cash management, trade finance and treasury services for both individual and institutional clients.

Beyond traditional commercial banking, Mizuho offers securities and capital markets services, investment banking, underwriting, M&A advisory, and asset management through its securities and trust banking arms.