Is SK Telecom A Great Stock For Value Investors?

Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?

One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s put SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:

PE Ratio

A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.

On this front, SK Telecom has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 9.1, as you can see in the chart below:

This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market at large, as the PE ratio for the S&P 500 stands at about 20.6. If we focus on the long-term PE trend, SK Telecom’s current PE level puts it below its midpoint over the past five years, with the number having risen rapidly over the past few months.

Further, the stock’s PE also compares favorably with the broader sector’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 22. At the very least, this indicates that the stock is relatively undervalued right now, compared to its peers.

We should also point out that SK Telecom has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year’s earnings) of just 8.3, so it is fair to say that a slightly more value-oriented path may be ahead for SK Telecom stock in the near term too.

P/S Ratio

Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock’s price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.

Right now, SK Telecom has a P/S ratio of about 1.1. This is a bit lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 3.3x right now. Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is well below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years.

If anything, SKM is in the lower end of its range in the time period from a P/S metric, suggesting some level of undervalued trading—at least compared to historical norms.

Broad Value Outlook

In aggregate, SK Telecom currently has a Value Score of A, putting it into the top 20% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes SK Telecom a solid choice for value investors.

What About the Stock Overall?

Though SK Telecom might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth Score of B and a Momentum Score of C. This gives SKM a Zacks VGM score — or its overarching fundamental grade — of A. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>)

Meanwhile, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been favorable. Both the current year and next year have seen one estimate go higher in the past sixty days compared to no lower.

This has had just a small impact on the consensus estimate though as the current year consensus estimate has risen by 2.3% in the past two months, while the next year estimate has inched upper by 0.3%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. Price and Consensus

This positive trend signifies bullish analyst sentiment, and its Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) indicates robust fundamentals and expectations of outperformance in the near term.

Bottom Line

SK Telecom is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front. However, with a sluggish industry rank (among Bottom 21% of more than 250 industries), it is hard to get too excited about this company overall. In fact, over the past two years, the broader industry has clearly underperformed the market at large, as you can see below:

We believe, despite an unsatisfactory past industry performance, a good Zacks rank signal that the stock is likely to benefit from favorable broader factors in the immediate future. Add to this robust value metrics, and we believe that we have a strong value contender in SK Telecom.

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