Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE:SMFG opened at $19.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $121.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.33. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has a twelve month low of $11.83 and a twelve month high of $24.33.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 13.81%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMFG. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 21,541,139 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $416,390,000 after purchasing an additional 404,435 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,997,774 shares of the bank’s stock worth $212,587,000 after buying an additional 161,026 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,743,128 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,140,000 after buying an additional 147,963 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,886,033 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,312,000 after buying an additional 9,022 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,151,904 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,596,000 after buying an additional 19,520 shares during the period. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.