Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $21.72 and last traded at $21.7810, with a volume of 265358 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on KEP shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Korea Electric Power in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Korea Electric Power to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Korea Electric Power Stock Up 16.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.06.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The utilities provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $19.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.17 billion. Korea Electric Power had a return on equity of 19.00% and a net margin of 8.47%.

Institutional Trading of Korea Electric Power

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEP. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 12,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Korea Electric Power by 6.2% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Korea Electric Power by 6.8% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Korea Electric Power by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 163,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 35,484 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period.

Korea Electric Power Company Profile

Korea Electric Power (KEP) is a South Korea–based integrated electric utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The company’s activities span power plant operation and maintenance, grid management, fuel procurement and power trading, as well as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for large-scale power projects. Its asset base includes a mix of thermal, nuclear, hydro and renewable generation capacity, and the company supports system planning and reliability functions for the national electricity network.

In addition to core utility operations, KEP provides a range of technical and consulting services tied to power infrastructure, including plant construction, refurbishment and decommissioning support.