Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 40,872 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc $SMFG

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 its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 40,872 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SMFG. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 927,179 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,521,000 after acquiring an additional 490,891 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,164,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 424,283 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,102,000 after purchasing an additional 170,789 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,036,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,095,000 after purchasing an additional 294,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group by 72.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 101,571 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 42,766 shares during the period. 3.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SMFG opened at $19.57 on Wednesday. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc has a 12-month low of $11.83 and a 12-month high of $24.33. The stock 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 current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.88.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. One research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Profile

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.