Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell sharply—down 20.4% in April to 699,508 shares, leaving a short-interest ratio of 0.9 days and only about 0.1% of the stock shorted.
• Major sell-side firms have downgraded KEP recently (Bank of America, Zacks, Wall Street Zen, Weiss), and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Reduce.
• KEP traded at $15.28 with a $19.62 billion market cap and a low P/E of 3.25; the company reported a -$0.10 EPS last quarter while analysts forecast roughly 3.47 EPS for the current year.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 699,508 shares, a decrease of 20.4% from the March 31st total of 878,985 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 744,545 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company's stock are short sold.

Korea Electric Power Stock Performance

KEP traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $15.28. 417,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 639,290. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.25, a PEG ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 1.01. Korea Electric Power has a 1-year low of $8.90 and a 1-year high of $23.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $16.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter. Korea Electric Power had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Korea Electric Power will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Korea Electric Power

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KEP. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Korea Electric Power by 18.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,211 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,556 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Korea Electric Power during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $179,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Korea Electric Power by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 191,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 6,336 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Korea Electric Power by 122.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 142,109 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 78,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Korea Electric Power during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $360,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America cut Korea Electric Power from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Korea Electric Power from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Korea Electric Power from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Korea Electric Power from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce".

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.

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