SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 42.6% to 2.23 million shares as of July 31, representing 0.6% of SK Telecom’s outstanding shares and just 0.7 days to cover.
• SK Telecom shares rose 1.5% to $39.07, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $0.81 versus a $0.59 consensus and revenue of $3.06 billion.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, including upgrades from Zacks Research and JPMorgan, but the overall rating remains “Hold”, with opinions ranging from Strong Buy to Sell.

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,229,077 shares, a decline of 42.6% from the July 15th total of 3,886,580 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,066,527 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Institutional Trading of SK Telecom

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of SK Telecom in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new stake in SK Telecom in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in SK Telecom in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Matthews International Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SK Telecom by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 2,491 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in SK Telecom in the first quarter worth $85,000.

SK Telecom Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of SKM traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $39.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,100,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,181,111. The company has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. SK Telecom has a one year low of $19.66 and a one year high of $47.18. The company's fifty day moving average price is $33.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.67.

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.22. SK Telecom had a return on equity of 5.59% and a net margin of 4.23%.The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that SK Telecom will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on SKM shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SK Telecom from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of SK Telecom from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. HSBC raised shares of SK Telecom from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of SK Telecom from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SK Telecom from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold".

SK Telecom Company Profile

SK Telecom Co, Ltd. NYSE: SKM is South Korea's largest wireless carrier, offering a comprehensive range of mobile telecommunications services. The company operates 5G, 4G LTE and IoT networks, providing voice, data and messaging solutions to consumers and businesses. Beyond traditional wireless services, SK Telecom delivers fixed-line broadband, digital content platforms, cloud computing and cybersecurity offerings designed to support enterprise digital transformation and the growing demand for high-speed connectivity.

Established in 1984 as Korea Mobile Telecommunications Services, SK Telecom pioneered cellular service commercialization in South Korea and has continually expanded into new technology areas.

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