Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (NYSE:SMFG)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 15.5% in the first quarter, owning 255,579 shares valued at approximately $3.95 million.
• Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group reported an EPS of $0.40 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.31, with a total revenue of $16.41 billion.
• Several research firms have upgraded their ratings for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, with Wall Street Zen moving from a "sell" to a "hold" and Nomura Securities assigning a "strong-buy" rating.

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (NYSE:SMFG - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 255,579 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 34,257 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group were worth $3,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,383,293 shares of the bank's stock worth $121,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189,453 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 6,384,308 shares of the bank's stock valued at $92,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355,287 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,029,497 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,877,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,913 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,899,574 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,015,000 after buying an additional 33,783 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,923,502 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,737,000 after acquiring an additional 119,818 shares in the last quarter. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SMFG. Nomura Securities raised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Price Performance

SMFG stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $15.58. The company had a trading volume of 965,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,867,586. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc has a fifty-two week low of $11.83 and a fifty-two week high of $16.74. The company has a market cap of $100.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.84.

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

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Company 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.