40,872 Shares in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc $SMFG Bought by Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (NYSE:SMFG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,872 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in the third quarter worth about $14,018,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 137.4% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,357,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,507,000 after buying an additional 785,443 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 606.2% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 709,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,724,000 after buying an additional 609,212 shares during the last quarter. Massar Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,555,000. Finally, Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 165.4% in the 3rd quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 800,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,407,000 after buying an additional 499,107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that SMFG is preparing options for a possible takeover of Jefferies raised expectations of strategic M&A, which can be viewed positively as a growth/fee-accretion opportunity for SMFG and briefly supported buyer interest. Takeover chatter swirls around Jefferies with Japan’s SMFG a rumored suitor
• Neutral Sentiment: Market reaction concentrated on Jefferies’ shares (large, immediate move higher) rather than a long-lasting re-rate of SMFG; initial jumps in Jefferies’ price reflected rumor-driven repositioning rather than confirmed transaction terms. Jefferies stock jumps on SMFG takeover report
• Negative Sentiment: SMFG publicly denied having an immediate plan to take over Jefferies, which reduces the likelihood of a near-term M&A catalyst and likely capped upside for the stock after the rumor-driven lift. SMFG Said to Have No Immediate Plan to Take Over Jefferies
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest in SMFG rose sharply in March (up ~47% to ~6.09M shares as of Mar. 13), which suggests growing bearish positioning and could increase volatility and downside pressure if sentiment or news turns negative; days-to-cover is low (~2.2), so moves could be quick. (Short-interest data submitted in entry.)

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Trading Up 0.2%

SMFG stock opened at $19.57 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.88. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc has a 52-week low of $11.83 and a 52-week high of $24.33. The firm has a market cap of $124.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.24). Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 13.81%.The business had revenue of $17.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SMFG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.