Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.45, but opened at $22.83. Korea Electric Power shares last traded at $23.1650, with a volume of 422,806 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KEP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Korea Electric Power in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Korea Electric Power to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Korea Electric Power Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $24.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.06 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.12.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Korea Electric Power

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 47,424.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 375,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,900,000 after acquiring an additional 374,652 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Korea Electric Power by 1,172,236.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 351,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,590,000 after purchasing an additional 351,671 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Korea Electric Power by 26.0% in 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. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Korea Electric Power during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,448,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Korea Electric Power in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,821,000.

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.