Nobody Seems to Be Buying Samsung Shares Anymore, Apart from Samsung

(Bloomberg) -- Just about everyone is selling shares of Samsung Electronics Co. after doubling their money in the past two years. For every seller, of course, there's a buyer on the other side of the trade. But the only one buying Samsung shares now appears to be Samsung itself.

Foreigners have sold 11 trillion won ($9.65 billion) worth of common and preferred shares in Samsung Electronics in the past two years, with an additional 4.2 trillion sold by domestic South Korean institutions and retail investors, CLSA Ltd. data show. This year alone, overseas investors sold 2.5 trillion won of the phone maker's shares.

``This is remarkable and suggests that the only buyer of Samsung has been the company itself,'' said Chris Wood, chief equity strategist at CLSA in Hong Kong.

Samsung Electronics' huge capital pile of around $77 billion allows it to buy back and cancel its own stock despite higher capital spending. While its share price has soared to an all-time high this year, its free float has declined to the lowest level in seven years. The stock has handed investors a 92 percent total return over the past two years, compared with just 19 percent at its rival Apple Inc.

Wood made the observation in a report dated June 15.

To contact the author of this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Davies at wdavies13@bloomberg.net.

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.