SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $31.95, but opened at $34.18. SK Telecom shares last traded at $34.3830, with a volume of 390,241 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SKM. Wall Street Zen raised shares of SK Telecom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Zacks Research upgraded SK Telecom from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. HSBC raised SK Telecom from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut SK Telecom from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised SK Telecom from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

SK Telecom Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.63.

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. SK Telecom had a return on equity of 2.78% and a net margin of 2.03%. On average, equities analysts expect that SK Telecom Co., Ltd. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SK Telecom

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of SK Telecom by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 362,424 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $7,441,000 after buying an additional 164,472 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of SK Telecom by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 221,300 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $4,543,000 after acquiring an additional 34,100 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SK Telecom during the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,065,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SK Telecom by 80.6% during the 1st quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 223,557 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $6,513,000 after acquiring an additional 99,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in SK Telecom in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,511,000.

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.