Progressing with its share buyback activities, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUFG announced that it repurchased 70,157,900 shares of its common stock in June 2022 for ¥51,992,372,297.

This follows the repurchase of 35,303,700 shares of its common stock for ¥25,760,524,597 in May. With this, as of Jun 30, 2022, the company repurchased 105,461,600 shares in aggregate for ¥77,752,896,894.

The repurchases were carried out through its ¥300-billion share repurchase program announced on May 16, 2022. The plan expires on Nov 11, 2022, and authorizes the company to buy back up to 600,000,000 shares, indicating 4.7% of total shares outstanding (excluding treasury stock).

The company seeks to continuously improve shareholder return and increase capital efficiency. To achieve this, it takes into consideration its business performance and capital situation, opportunities for investment in growth, and market conditions, including share price.

Since May 2017, the company has completed share repurchase programs that have enhanced shareholder value and facilitated flexible capital policy implementations in response to changes in the business environment.

Share buybacks aside, MUFG increased its dividend forecast for fiscal 2022 to ¥32 per share. It targets a dividend payout ratio of 40% by the end of fiscal 2023. Thus, by leveraging the capital surplus, MUFG aims to add shareholder value by a progressive increase in dividends and executing flexible share repurchases.

Also, it targets a payout ratio of 40% by the end of fiscal 2023.

Given its capital strength and a robust balance sheet, the company is well-poised to sustain its capital deployment activities and enhance shareholder value. As of Mar 31, 2022, MUFG had cash and due from banks of ¥110.76 trillion, up 7.6% from ¥102.98 trillion recorded as of Mar 31, 2021.  Also, the bank’s capital ratios remained solid, well above the regulatory requirements. Its deal to divest MUFG Union Bank to U.S. Bancorp in an $8-billion transaction is expected to improve its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio.

So far this year, shares of MUFG have lost 0.5% compared with a 10.3% decline of the industry it belongs to.

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Currently, MUFG carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Share Buyback Plans of Other Finance Companies

Northfield Bancorp, Inc. (Staten Island, NY) NFBK announced a share repurchase program. The board of directors approved the repurchase plan worth $45 million of NFBK’s outstanding stock.

Prior to the announcement of the new buyback plan, Northfield Bancorp had another repurchase program in place. Under that, the company was authorized to buy back shares worth $54.2 million. This plan was fully utilized and concluded on Mar 31, 2022.

Cathay General Bancorp CATY cheered investors by announcing that its board authorized a buyback of up to $125 million worth of shares of its common stock. The company had 75,150,090 outstanding common shares as of May 26.

The old share repurchase plan announced on Sep 2, 2021, was completed on Feb 18, 2022. Under the program, CATY repurchased 2,858,503 shares at an average price of $43.73.

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