Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:MUFG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 28.5% to 9,382,754 shares as of March 31, implying a short-interest ratio of about 2.5 days and roughly 0.1% of the company's stock sold short.
• Wall Street sentiment has firmed, with upgrades from Weiss Ratings and UBS and a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Buy" (one Strong Buy, one Buy, one Hold).
• MUFG beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.32 vs. $0.30), and the stock trades around $18.46 with a market cap of $219 billion and a P/E of 16.19.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:MUFG - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 9,382,754 shares, a growth of 28.5% from the March 15th total of 7,301,534 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,792,462 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MUFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Trading Up 1.6%

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group stock opened at $18.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $219.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.71. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has a 12-month low of $11.50 and a 12-month high of $20.15.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE:MUFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group had a net margin of 13.87% and a return on equity of 9.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MUFG. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 251.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,816,589 shares of the company's stock worth $76,391,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447,183 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 91,486,499 shares of the company's stock worth $1,458,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973,325 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,240,940 shares of the company's stock worth $211,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718,759 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 180.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,162,410 shares of the company's stock worth $34,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,730,203 shares of the company's stock worth $106,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,241 shares in the last quarter. 13.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG) is a Tokyo-based financial services holding company and one of Japan's largest banking groups and among the world's leading financial institutions. The group was formed through the integration of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings and operates a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services for retail, corporate, and institutional clients. MUFG's core banking operations are conducted through its commercial banking arm and a network of domestic and international subsidiaries and affiliates.

MUFG offers a broad range of products and services including commercial and retail banking, corporate and investment banking, global transaction banking, trust banking, asset management, securities and brokerage services, credit cards, consumer finance, leasing and custody services.

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