Top investors ramp up buying of Samsung Electronics again ... “Shareholder-return concerns are temporary” [Top 1% Investors’ Picks]

[Financial News] Top-performing investors increased their net purchases of Samsung Electronics to at least three times the previous week’s level. The stock’s losses widened amid disappointment over shareholder returns when third-quarter results were announced, but top investors appear to have viewed this as a temporary setback and bought the dip.■ Net purchases of Samsung Electronics rise 3.5-fold ... SK hynix down 72%According to the “Detailed Trading Activity of Top-Performing Customers (the 25,000 customers with the highest returns over the previous three months),” provided by KIWOOM Securities Co., Ltd. on the 1st, Samsung Electronics ranked first in net purchases from the 26th to the 30th of last month, with net purchases of 87.8 billion won. SK hynix followed with 39.5 billion won, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics held third place with 23.5 billion won.
Compared with the previous week, the scale of purchases of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix diverged sharply. Net purchases of Samsung Electronics rose about 3.5-fold, from 25.3 billion won the previous week to 87.8 billion won. By contrast, net purchases of SK hynix fell 71.8%, from 140.1 billion won to 39.5 billion won. The two stocks also switched places in the net-buying rankings in just one week.
Samsung Electronics’ losses widened amid investors’ disappointment with its shareholder-return policy at the time of the earnings announcement. The company announced plans for up to 110 trillion won in shareholder returns this year, including 30 trillion won in cash dividends, but said the details would be finalized at a board meeting at the end of January next year and did not provide a detailed plan.
Top investors, however, used this as an opportunity to buy at lower prices. The securities industry likewise expects a full-fledged shareholder-return policy to become clear from the first quarter of next year. Kim Hyung-tae, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, “It is disappointing that Samsung Electronics has offered no additional shareholder returns beyond the 30 trillion won special dividend, but we expect to see a recurring and sustainable policy from the first quarter of next year.”
Lee Jong-wook, a researcher at Samsung Securities Co., Ltd., said, “Disappointment over the method and timing of shareholder returns is negative for short-term momentum, but it is not a decisive factor that would change investment decisions,” adding, “As long as it does not undermine the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry itself, stock-price corrections caused by external factors are creating attractive buying opportunities.”■ Buying of shipbuilding stocks expands ... hopes for LNG carrier and warship contractsShipbuilding stocks moved into the top ranks among other sectors. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries newly entered the rankings in fourth place with 10.3 billion won in net purchases, while Hanwha Ocean’s net purchases rose 26.7%, from 3.1 billion won the previous week to 3.9 billion won. Combined net purchases of the two shipbuilders totaled 14.3 billion won.
Buying of shipbuilding stocks appears to reflect expectations of improving earnings and a recovery in orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. HD HHI’s third-quarter operating profit rose 61.4% year over year to 899.2 billion won. Analysts also expect orders for new vessels to increase next year, led by North American LNG projects. Expectations that HD HHI and Hanwha Ocean will win overseas warship contracts are also supporting investor sentiment.
Bae Ki-yeon, a researcher at Meritz Securities, said, “HD Hyundai expects newbuild prices for LNG carriers, which had been falling, to stop declining,” adding, “Shipowners also see current levels as the bottom and are beginning behind-the-scenes negotiations with Korean shipbuilders.” 
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