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Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. (Photo courtesy of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance) |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Shares of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance traded lower on Sunday after global investment bank JPMorgan cut its target price for the stock.
As of 2:24 p.m. local time, Samsung Fire was trading at KRW 562,000, down KRW 56,000, or 9.06 percent, from the previous session.
Market participants attributed the decline to JPMorgan’s latest research note, which lowered Samsung Fire’s target price to KRW 450,000 from KRW 500,000, citing disappointment over shareholder returns.
According to JPMorgan, Samsung Fire reported a Korea Insurance Capital Standard (K-ICS) ratio of 262.9 percent, well above its target level of 220 percent, resulting in excess capital of approximately KRW 4.8 trillion—equivalent to about 17 percent of the company’s market capitalization.
The bank also noted that Samsung Fire’s total equity stood at KRW 21.3 trillion, up 36 percent year-on-year, while its core capital ratio exceeded 170 percent. Despite the accumulation of capital, JPMorgan criticized the company for failing to return sufficient value to shareholders.
“During the earnings conference call, there was no discussion whatsoever on plans to utilize excess capital,” JPMorgan said, adding that the company’s dividend per share (DPS) increased by only 2.6 percent from a year earlier, even though the figure included gains from the sale of its stake in Samsung Electronics.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
