[Featured Stock] Korean Re Hits 52-Week High...Emerges as 'Representative Stock' Amid Earnings Improvement and Dividend Season

Highest Price in Two Months Since Surpassing 9,000 Won on August 26
Interest in Dividend Stocks Grows as Year-End Dividend Season Approaches
Leading Domestic Dividend Stock with a 30% Dividend Payout Ratio

Korean Re has recorded a 52-week high. As its performance 'turnaround' continues, the attractiveness as a 'dividend stock' seems to be highlighted with the approaching dividend season.

As of 9:43 AM on the 23rd, Korean Re is trading at 9,160 KRW, up 4.09% (360 KRW) from the previous trading day. It surpassed the 52-week high of 9,000 KRW recorded on August 26 after about two months. The last time Korean Re's stock price closed above 9,000 KRW was in June 2018. After a long downtrend, it is now running a relentless upward trend.

Korean Re posted sales of 1.6151 trillion KRW in the second quarter, down 17.4% year-on-year, but operating profit rose 584.2% to 180.2 billion KRW. Net profit also increased 528.2% year-on-year to 142.5 billion KRW. This was the result of generally favorable loss ratios in overseas catastrophe segments excluding the Turkey earthquake, along with a decrease in losses caused by COVID-19.

Seol Yong-jin, a researcher at SK Securities, said, “Reinsurers tend to have lower sensitivity to macroeconomic environments compared to other industries due to factors such as a high overseas ratio and the impact of large-scale accidents on performance,” adding, "Shareholder returns are expected to have a dividend payout ratio of around 30%, and there is also upside potential due to plans for periodic bonus stock issuances." Korean Re, the only dedicated reinsurer in Korea, is regarded as a representative 'dividend stock' in the insurance industry with a consistent dividend payout ratio in the 30% range. It has also been identified as a beneficiary of the 'value-up' trend spreading across the financial industry this year. Dividend stocks have recently gained attention as the year-end dividend season approaches. There is a long-standing saying in the stock market: 'Buy dividend stocks when the cold wind blows.'