Zacks Research Downgrades Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) from hold to strong sell, adding to a series of recent negative analyst actions.
• Other firms have also turned more cautious on the stock, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wall Street Zen, and Weiss Ratings. Overall, the consensus rating now stands at Reduce.
• Korea Electric Power recently beat earnings expectations with EPS of $1.33 versus the $1.27 estimate, but revenue missed forecasts. The stock was trading near its 12-month low and below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on KEP. Bank of America downgraded shares of Korea Electric Power from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Korea Electric Power from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Korea Electric Power from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Korea Electric Power from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce".

Korea Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of Korea Electric Power stock opened at $11.54 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $12.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Korea Electric Power has a 12 month low of $11.43 and a 12 month high of $23.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.95.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 16th. The utilities provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. Korea Electric Power had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 8.95%.The firm had revenue of $16.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.21 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Korea Electric Power will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KEP. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Korea Electric Power by 26.0% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,514,228 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,761,000 after buying an additional 312,680 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 883,266 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,574,000 after acquiring an additional 44,617 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Korea Electric Power by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 847,902 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,990,000 after purchasing an additional 70,943 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 703,998 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,624,000 after purchasing an additional 8,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Korea Electric Power by 119.3% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 644,041 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,178,000 after purchasing an additional 350,337 shares in the last quarter.

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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