Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 1,027,515 shares, an increase of 62.0% from the May 14th total of 634,373 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,197,780 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Korea Electric Power Stock Performance

Korea Electric Power stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.27. The company had a trading volume of 204,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 827,785. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Korea Electric Power has a 12-month low of $10.22 and a 12-month high of $23.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.00 and its 200-day moving average is $16.79. The company has a market capitalization of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93.

Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The utilities provider reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Korea Electric Power had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The business had revenue of $13.61 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Korea Electric Power will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 38,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 8,723 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 617.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 249,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,552,000 after acquiring an additional 214,535 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 5,528 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Korea Electric Power by 171.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 4,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Korea Electric Power by 48.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 480,867 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,852,000 after purchasing an additional 156,227 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Korea Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Korea Electric Power from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered Korea Electric Power from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Korea Electric Power from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

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.