The Stock Exchange of South Korea has been created through the integration of Korea stock exchange, Korean Future index and KOSDAQ stock market. It has been controlled and operatedunder Korea Stock and Future Exchange Act. Korea stock exchange have 1796 listed companies and the total market capitalization stands for $1.1 trillion. The market has several stocks, Bonds, Exchange traded funds, Exchange – linked warrants and real estate investment trusts.
Korean Stock Fund
iShares MSCI South Korea Index 800-474-2737
Matthews International Korea Fund 800-789-2742
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) has over 780 components. The entire index has been segmented on the basis of overall market capitalization which has been termed as Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap indices. According to it there are three indices in this stock market: KOSPI 200, KOSPI 100, and KOSPI 50. Some of it’s largest and top performing Korean stocks are as follows:
Korean Stocks
Samsung: Samsung Electronics is one of the key stock representing KOSPI index. It solely represents 219,770,608 south korean won (SKW) which is the highest figure in KOSPI. It has 147.30 million outstanding shares in the market and is the most tradable script in South Korean Stock Exchange. Its average volume per month stands at 265,194 which represents investors interests over this share. The earning per share (EPS) stood at 138,389 KRW with a price earning ratio of 10.782 for 2011/12 period. It got sufficient growth within its net income statistics which led investors to possess an optimistic mindset for investing in Samsung shares.
Hyundai Motors:Hyundai Motors holds prominent position in KOSPI in terms of investor interests over it. Its stronghold in the business arena, Sufficient disbursement of dividends, better earning ratio and good investor conquered them a winning position in investor’s mind. It has got a total market capitalization of 46,368,200 KRW. It has 220.78 million outstanding tradable shares with monthly average volume of 707,829. The earning per share of Hyundai Motors stands at 28,200 with a magnificient price earning ratio of 7.46. The company is growing at an exponential rate each and every year and keeping eye to their shareholders as well. Besides retaining their earnings for future expansion of business they are disbursing enough to their respected shareholders. Last five years dividend growth rate stands at 13.70% for Hyundai motors which makes this stock one of the top performing in KOSPI.
KIA Motors: KIA motors is a Korean Based automobile corporation which holds a significant position in KOSPI. It disbursed 405.36 million shares in Korean Stock exchange and listed with a giant total volume of 21,281,580 million KRW. The better earning ratios and potential growth prospects led the company place a better position in investors mind. Its current eps stands at 9609.69 with a secure price earning ratio of 5.46 for the period of 2001-12. For the last few years KIA is having access to newer market segments throughout the world with capturing bigger market shares locally. This led the company having some outstanding growth in its income statement which ultimately leads to better disbursements of profit to its shareholders. Its dividend yield ratio stands at 1.24 (as of 2012) with a Net return on investment of 19.15%. This stock is also profound for its aggressiveness as its beta stands at 1.20. Healthy figures of some key ratios for KIA has led the firm to attract potential investors under its hood.
Other Korean Stocks
Woori Finance (Stock Symbol: WF) SK Telecom (Stock Symbol: SKM)
KT Corp. (Stock Symbol: KTC) Kookmin Bank (Stock Symbol: KB)
Hanaro Telecom (Stock Symbol: HANA)
