American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 89,792 Shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc $SMFG

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc by 5.9%, acquiring 89,792 additional shares, bringing its total holdings to 1,605,115 shares valued at approximately $24.81 million.
• Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group reported a Q2 EPS of $0.40, surpassing analysts' expectation of $0.31, with quarterly revenue significantly higher than anticipated at $16.41 billion.
• Analyst ratings have improved for the stock, with recent upgrades including a shift from a "sell" to a "hold" by Wall Street Zen and a "strong-buy" rating from Nomura Securities.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (NYSE:SMFG - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,605,115 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 89,792 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group were worth $24,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 20,072 shares of the bank's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 17,160 shares of the bank's stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 19,652 shares of the bank's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 11,105 shares of the bank's stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 25,173 shares of the bank's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. 3.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SMFG. Nomura Securities raised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy".

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.51. 3,217,456 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,869,951. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc has a 1-year low of $11.83 and a 1-year high of $17.46. The company has a market cap of $106.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $15.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.01.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 11.78%.The company had revenue of $16.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1,094.67 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Profile

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking, leasing, securities, credit card, and consumer finance services in Japan, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. It operates through Wholesale Business Unit, Retail Business Unit, Global Business Unit, and Global Markets Business Unit segments.