KT (NYSE:KT) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

KT Corporation (NYSE:KT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $17.53 and last traded at $17.5850, with a volume of 67843 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on KT. Zacks Research downgraded KT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America downgraded shares of KT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $23.08 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of KT from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of KT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.08.

KT Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.49. The firm has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 0.59.

KT (NYSE:KT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 13th. The technology company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $4.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.69 billion. KT had a return on equity of 8.28% and a net margin of 5.64%. On average, analysts anticipate that KT Corporation will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KT. Systematic Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in KT in the 1st quarter worth $429,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KT by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,122 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,653 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KT by 166.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 50,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 31,327 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in KT in the first quarter worth about $261,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in KT by 10.6% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 193,757 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,156,000 after buying an additional 18,579 shares in the last quarter. 18.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About KT

KT Corporation, listed on the New York Stock Exchange as an American depositary receipt under the symbol KT, is a major telecommunications and information technology provider headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea. The company’s services span traditional fixed-line voice communication, high-speed broadband internet access and mobile cellular networks. Leveraging an extensive fiber-optic and wireless infrastructure, KT delivers voice, data and multimedia solutions to both consumer and enterprise customers.

KT has been at the forefront of technological innovation in its home market, launching South Korea’s first commercial 5G network and expanding its offerings to include Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, cloud computing services and cybersecurity solutions.