SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $45.04, but opened at $40.25. SK Telecom shares last traded at $39.89, with a volume of 1,661,597 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised SK Telecom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered SK Telecom from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America lowered SK Telecom from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC raised SK Telecom from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised SK Telecom from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SK Telecom presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

SK Telecom Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a PE ratio of 62.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.63 and a 200 day moving average of $28.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. SK Telecom had a return on equity of 2.84% and a net margin of 2.03%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SK Telecom Co., Ltd. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SK Telecom

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in SK Telecom by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 25,371 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in SK Telecom by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 68,552 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in SK Telecom by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 27,553 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in SK Telecom by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,732 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in SK Telecom by 94.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,336 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period.

SK Telecom Company Profile

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.