SK Telecom Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SKM)

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 15,883 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 225% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,882 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SK Telecom

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of SK Telecom during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new stake in SK Telecom in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in SK Telecom by 138.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,701 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in SK Telecom in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Matthews International Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in SK Telecom by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 2,491 shares of the Wireless communications provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SKM. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of SK Telecom from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised SK Telecom from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded SK Telecom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, HSBC raised SK Telecom from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

SK Telecom Price Performance

SKM traded up $0.11 on Monday, hitting $31.91. 898,015 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,110,067. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.10. The firm has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.63. SK Telecom has a one year low of $19.66 and a one year high of $47.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. SK Telecom had a return on equity of 2.78% and a net margin of 2.03%.The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.98 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that SK Telecom 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.