[Click eStock] "Taekwang, Expected Benefit from US LNG Export Terminal... Target Price Up"

Target Price Raised by 20% Compared to Previous Estimate

Daishin Securities raised the target price for Taekwang from 17,500 KRW to 21,000 KRW on the 19th, citing expected benefits from the U.S. LNG export terminal. The investment rating was maintained at 'Buy.'

Park Jang-wook, a researcher at Daishin Securities, stated, "Taekwang's performance next year is expected to show sales of 319.1 billion KRW, a 17.3% increase compared to the same period last year, and operating profit of 63 billion KRW, up 41.5%. This reflects the expanded visibility of performance due to benefits from U.S. LNG export terminals following the election of President Donald Trump. The target price-to-book ratio (PBR) was raised from 0.8x to 0.9x, resulting in a 20% increase in the target price compared to the previous level."

With President Trump's election, investment in new LNG export projects, which had been postponed during President Joe Biden's administration, is expected to resume. Researcher Park said, "There are 17 anticipated projects, and the expected LNG export volume upon completion of all projects will exceed 100 million tons. In 2024, the annual LNG export capacity in the U.S. is projected to be 88 MTPA (1 MTPA = 1 million tons per year). If all 17 LNG export terminals are completed, the export volume will be more than double the current capacity, and Taekwang is expected to benefit significantly from the full-scale investment in U.S. LNG export terminals."

Recently, Taekwang announced a mid-to-long-term corporate value enhancement plan that includes setting this year's year-end dividend at a minimum of 200 KRW, increasing dividends annually, and targeting a shareholder return ratio (dividends plus share buybacks) of 30% by 2026. Researcher Park evaluated, "The current shareholder yield based on the stock price is about 3.8%. Although it is regrettable that there is no clear plan for share buyback cancellation, the announcement of shareholder-friendly policies is positive."