Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (NYSE:SMFG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (NYSE:SMFG) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,088,105 shares, a growth of 47.0% from the February 26th total of 4,141,499 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,720,547 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Price Performance

SMFG opened at $19.10 on Monday. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group has a twelve month low of $11.83 and a twelve month high of $24.33. The firm has a market cap of $121.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.33. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $21.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.94.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (NYSE:SMFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayban bought a new stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SMFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 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.