Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $21.72 and last traded at $21.7810, with a volume of 265358 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KEP. Wall Street Zen raised Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Korea Electric Power to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Korea Electric Power in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Korea Electric Power Trading Up 16.2%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $17.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a PE ratio of 4.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The utilities provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $19.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.17 billion. Korea Electric Power had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 19.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Korea Electric Power

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Korea Electric Power by 47,424.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 375,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,900,000 after buying an additional 374,652 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 1,172,236.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 351,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,590,000 after acquiring an additional 351,671 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings 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 worth $19,761,000 after purchasing an additional 312,680 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Korea Electric Power during the second quarter worth about $3,448,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Korea Electric Power in the third quarter valued at about $2,821,000.

About Korea Electric Power

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.