Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) Short Interest Up 62.0% in May

Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) saw a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 1,027,515 shares, a growth of 62.0% from the May 14th total of 634,373 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,197,780 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Korea Electric Power Stock Down 3.1%

Korea Electric Power stock opened at $13.18 on Wednesday. Korea Electric Power has a 1-year low of $10.22 and a 1-year high of $23.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 16th. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter. Korea Electric Power had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The firm had revenue of $16.22 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Korea Electric Power will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Korea Electric Power from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Korea Electric Power from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America cut shares of Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Korea Electric Power from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Institutional Trading of Korea Electric Power

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Korea Electric Power by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 12,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 22,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 6.2% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 746 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.