Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Korea Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Korea Electric Power from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Nomura downgraded Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th.

Korea Electric Power Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of KEP stock opened at $11.09 on Friday. Korea Electric Power has a 52-week low of $10.77 and a 52-week high of $23.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a PE ratio of 2.58, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.93.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.89). The business had revenue of $14.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Korea Electric Power had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 15.70%. On average, analysts predict that Korea Electric Power will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Korea Electric Power

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Korea Electric Power by 48.1% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 480,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,852,000 after purchasing an additional 156,227 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 166.5% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 105,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 65,994 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Korea Electric Power by 617.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 249,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,552,000 after purchasing an additional 214,535 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Korea Electric Power by 119.3% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 644,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,178,000 after purchasing an additional 350,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 54.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 265,049 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,207,000 after buying an additional 93,194 shares in the last quarter.

About Korea Electric Power

Korea Electric Power Corporation, commonly known as KEPCO, is South Korea’s state-owned electric utility. The company is responsible for the transmission and distribution of electricity across the country and supplies power to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

KEPCO’s activities include managing the national electricity grid, operating power-generation businesses through affiliated companies and developing energy infrastructure. Its generation-related operations span nuclear, coal, natural gas, renewable energy and other sources, while its subsidiaries include major South Korean power producers such as Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.

Established in 1982, KEPCO has also pursued overseas projects involving power generation, transmission and distribution.