SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 15.5% in April to 3,416,537 shares (about 0.9% of shares), with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.9 based on average daily volume.
• Shares traded at $37.01 midday (52‑week range $19.66–$40.49), the company has a $14.2B market cap and a P/E of 54.43, and it reported an outsized EPS beat of $10.67 (vs. $0.10 expected) while revenue was roughly $3.0B.
• Analyst sentiment has turned negative with multiple downgrades and an average MarketBeat rating of "Reduce" (one Buy, three Hold, four Sell).

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,416,537 shares, a drop of 15.5% from the March 31st total of 4,043,366 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,763,211 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

SK Telecom Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SKM traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.01. 1,084,074 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,758,508. SK Telecom has a 52 week low of $19.66 and a 52 week high of $40.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.43, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.46.

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $10.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $10.57. SK Telecom had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 3.21%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.02 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SK Telecom will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SKM. Bank of America cut SK Telecom from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup cut SK Telecom from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group cut SK Telecom to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SK Telecom from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut SK Telecom from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce".

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SK Telecom

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in SK Telecom by 94.2% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,336 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in SK Telecom in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in SK Telecom in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in SK Telecom by 138.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,701 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its position in SK Telecom by 38.9% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,822 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares in the last quarter.

About SK Telecom

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.