Buy: Hanwha

Hanwha, a manufacturer of chemicals, resort, ammunitions is trying to raise its profile internationally — it signed a sponsorship deal with English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers. A South Korean player, Lee Chung-yong, who has been sidelined after breaking a leg last month in a preseason match.

Daewoo Securities analyst Jeong Dae-ro says that the stock price of the group holding company is 48 percent discounted compared to the net value of assets it holds — this basically means that it is better off for shareholders if the company can liquidate all its assets now and shut down the business. This undervaluation makes Jeong to claim one Hanwha share is worth 63,000 won.
Upon the publishing of his report, the firm's share price jumped 6.3 percent to 37,850 won.

Last year, the firm had 3,531 won of profit for every share. This year's earnings per share, Jeong expects, is 4,087 won. So the current stock price indeed looks attractive, only if the company can maintain its profit momentum.

Foreigners own 18.1 percent of Hanwha.


Buy: Hankook Tire

Hankook is one of three big Korean tire manufacturers along with Kumho and Nexen. It was also the world’s seventh largest maker in terms of sales and fifth in production capacity.

After visiting the company, analyst Shin Chung-kwan of KB investment & Securities says that Hankook’s third-quarter profit rate is expected to rise by 2 to 3 percentage points to around 10 percent.

The reason of the improving profit is a price hike. The firm jacked up prices of tires supplied to repair shops by around 5 percent between April and July. And there was a 10-percent increase in the price of tires supplied to Hyundai-Kia car factories — its largest customer — Shin said. His target share price is 57,000 won.

Hankook is one of three big Korean tire manufacturers along with Kumho and Nexen. It was also the world’s seventh largest maker in terms of sales and fifth in production capacity.

After visiting the company, analyst Shin Chung-kwan of KB investment & Securities says that Hankook’s third-quarter profit rate is expected to rise by 2 to 3 percentage points to around 10 percent.

The reason of the improving profit is a price hike. The firm jacked up prices of tires supplied to repair shops by around 5 percent between April and July. And there was a 10-percent increase in the price of tires supplied to Hyundai-Kia car factories — its largest customer — Shin said. His target share price is 57,000 won.

Sell: Celltrion

The share price of Celltrion hasn’t been affected by the recent turmoil in the stock market too much. But after rising almost 10 percent last week, Samsung Securities said that it is time to cash out from the biotech firm, which produces various types of medicines.

Celltrion is one of the largest listed firms in the tech-heavy, junior Kosdaq market and foreigners are holding 33 percent of the shares.