SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $32.26, but opened at $33.88. SK Telecom shares last traded at $32.9010, with a volume of 332,375 shares traded.

SKM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SK Telecom from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research upgraded SK Telecom from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. HSBC raised SK Telecom from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded SK Telecom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SK Telecom has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SK Telecom

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in SK Telecom by 1.1% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 190,819 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $6,137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SK Telecom during the 2nd quarter valued at $234,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SK Telecom by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,202 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares during the last quarter. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of SK Telecom in the 1st quarter worth $7,740,000. Finally, Wealth High Governance Asset Management Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of SK Telecom in the 1st quarter worth $6,577,000.

SK Telecom Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.19 billion, a PE ratio of 52.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.63.

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 company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. SK Telecom had a return on equity of 2.78% and a net margin of 2.03%. Sell-side analysts predict that SK Telecom Co., Ltd. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

About SK Telecom

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.