NH Investment & Securities evaluated on the 9th regarding Woori Financial Group, "Currently, expectations for share buybacks are not high, but even just considering dividends, it is deemed sufficiently attractive." The investment opinion is "buy," and the target stock price remains at 20,000 won. The closing price of Woori Financial Group on the previous trading day was 15,350 won.
NH Investment & Securities estimated Woori Financial Group's fourth-quarter net income to be 418 billion won, a 514% increase compared to the same period last year. This exceeds the market consensus (securities firms' estimates).
Jeong Jun-seob, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, noted, "Although an exchange rate loss of about 90 billion won due to the rapid rise in the exchange rate is expected to be reflected, the reflection of the hope retirement expense has been postponed to the first quarter of this year, and it is anticipated that it will exceed the consensus."
He particularly evaluated that the dividends of Woori Financial Group are attractive. Researcher Jeong said, "Unlike other companies, expectations for share buybacks are not high at the moment, but even just looking at dividends, it is sufficiently attractive."
He continued, "The dividend per share (DPS) is expected to be 640 won for the fourth quarter of last year (expected dividend date in February) and 185 won for the first quarter of this year (expected dividend date in March)," and added, "If held until March, the anticipated dividend yield is expected to be around 5.4%."
He also expressed expectations for share buybacks and cancellations in the future. Researcher Jeong forecasted, "Despite the difficult environment in the fourth quarter of last year, a relatively good capital ratio is expected, increasing the likelihood of achieving the company's target of a common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 12.5% this year." If the 12.5% is achieved, the anticipated scale of share buybacks and cancellations could be between 200 to 300 billion won annually, contributing to the attractiveness of shareholder returns along with dividends.