Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company.

KEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Korea Electric Power from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Korea Electric Power from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Nomura downgraded shares of Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Korea Electric Power from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th.

Korea Electric Power Stock Performance

KEP opened at $12.23 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.81. Korea Electric Power has a 52-week low of $11.15 and a 52-week high of $23.41. The company has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.56, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.18). Korea Electric Power had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 8.95%.The company had revenue of $14.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.31 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Korea Electric Power will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Korea Electric Power by 47,424.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 375,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,900,000 after purchasing an additional 374,652 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Korea Electric Power by 119.3% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 644,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,178,000 after buying an additional 350,337 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Korea Electric Power by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,514,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,761,000 after buying an additional 312,680 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Korea Electric Power during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,448,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Korea Electric Power during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,821,000.

About Korea Electric Power

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.