Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Stock Down 0.5%

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group stock opened at $25.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has a twelve month low of $15.18 and a twelve month high of $27.61. The company has a market capitalization of $160.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.44.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kazuyuki Anchi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.47, for a total value of $169,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 48,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,074,956.79. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SMFG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 57,202 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 5,078 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $212,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 2,485 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 45,374 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 408,740 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,638,000 after buying an additional 63,087 shares during the last quarter. 3.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (NYSE:SMFG) is a Japan-based financial services holding company headquartered in Tokyo. Through its subsidiaries, the group provides commercial and investment banking, financial advisory, payments, asset management, leasing, consumer finance and other related services to individuals, businesses, financial institutions and governments.

Its principal banking subsidiary is Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, which offers deposits, lending, foreign exchange, trade finance, capital markets services and wealth management.