Short Interest in KT Corporation (NYSE:KT) Rises By 18.8%

Key Points

• Short interest rose 18.8% to 4,413,883 shares as of March 13, reflecting an 18.8% increase from Feb. 26; currently 0.9% of shares are sold short and the short-interest ratio is about 2.1 days based on average daily volume.
• Institutional investors own roughly 18.9% of KT, with several funds (including GAMMA Investing, Royal Bank of Canada and DGS Capital) modestly increasing their stakes in recent quarters.
• KT traded around $21.45 with a market cap of $10.34 billion and a P/E of 15.3; the company reported $0.63 EPS last quarter and analysts’ consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy” after a mix of upgrades and a downgrade.

KT Corporation (NYSE:KT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,413,883 shares, a growth of 18.8% from the February 26th total of 3,715,954 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,102,635 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Institutional Trading of KT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KT. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in KT by 7.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,845 shares of the technology company's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of KT by 1.1% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 102,808 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,820,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KT by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,826 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KT by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KT by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 175,178 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. 18.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KT Price Performance

KT stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $21.45. 1,728,728 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,725,770. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.00. KT has a one year low of $16.25 and a one year high of $24.58. The company has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

KT (NYSE:KT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The technology company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter. KT had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 5.20%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that KT will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on KT. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KT from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of KT from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut KT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KT presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

About KT

KT Corporation, listed on the New York Stock Exchange as an American depositary receipt under the symbol KT, is a major telecommunications and information technology provider headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea. The company's services span traditional fixed-line voice communication, high-speed broadband internet access and mobile cellular networks. Leveraging an extensive fiber-optic and wireless infrastructure, KT delivers voice, data and multimedia solutions to both consumer and enterprise customers.

KT has been at the forefront of technological innovation in its home market, launching South Korea's first commercial 5G network and expanding its offerings to include Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, cloud computing services and cybersecurity solutions.

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