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Korea FundKF +4.68%37 Piotroski F-Score is 3 as of Aug. 13, 2026, which is 40% below its 10-year median of 5.00. GuruFocus rates KF with a GF Score™ of 37/100. The stock has 2 warning signs investors should review. Among 1,590 Asset Management companies, Korea Fund ranks worse than 78.24% on this metric.
Warning Sign:
Piotroski F-Score of 3 is low, which usually implies poor business operation.
The zones of discrimination were as such:
Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3
Korea Fund has an F-score of 3. It is a bad or low score, which usually implies poor business operation.
The historical rank and industry rank for Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score or its related term are showing as below:
KF'
s Piotroski F-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 3 Med: 5 Max: 7
Current: 3
During the past 8 years, the highest Piotroski F-Score of Korea Fund was 7. The lowest was 3. And the median was 5.
Korea Fund (NYSE:KF) Piotroski F-Score Explanation
The developer of the system is Joseph D. Piotroski is relatively unknown accounting professor who shuns publicity and rarely gives interviews.
He graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in accounting in 1989, received an M.B.A. from Indiana University in 1994. Five years later, in 1999, after earning a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Michigan, he became an associate professor of accounting at the University of Chicago.
He wanted to see if he can develop a system (using a simple nine-point scoring system) that can increase the returns of a strategy of investing in low price to book (referred to in the paper as high book to market) value companies.
What he found was something that exceeded his most optimistic expectations.
Buying only those companies that scored highest (8 or 9) on his nine-point scale, or F-Score as he called it, over the 20 year period from 1976 to 1996 led to an average out-performance over the market of 13.4%.
Even more impressive were the results of a strategy of investing in the highest F-Score companies (8 or 9) and shorting companies with the lowest F-Score (0 or 1).
Over the same period from 1976 to 1996 (20 years) this strategy led to an average yearly return of 23%, substantially outperforming the average S&P 500 index return of 15.83% over the same period.
Korea Fund Piotroski F-Score Related Terms
Korea Fund Piotroski F-Score Historical Data
* Premium members only.
The historical data trend for Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
For the Asset Management subindustry, Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Piotroski F-Score data, can be viewed below:
* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.
Korea Fund Piotroski F-Score vs Asset Management Industry
For the Asset Management industry and Financial Services sector, Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score distribution charts can be found below:
* The bar in red indicates where Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score falls into.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
*Note: If the latest quarterly/semi-annual/annual total assets data is 0, then we will use previous quarterly/semi-annual/annual data for all the items in the balance sheet.
Profitability
Question 1. Return on Assets (ROA)
Net income before extraordinary items for the year divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.
Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.
Korea Fund's current Net Income (TTM) was 8.60.
==> Positive ==> Score 1.
Question 2. Cash Flow Return on Assets (CFROA)
Net cash flow from operating activities (operating cash flow) divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.
Korea Fund's return on assets of this year was 0.06137841. Korea Fund's return on assets of last year was 0.07998661.
==> Last year is higher ==> Score 0.
Question 4. Quality of Earnings (Accrual)
Compare Cash flow return on assets (2) to return on assets (1)
Korea Fund's gearing of this year was 0. Korea Fund's gearing of last year was 0.
==> This year is lower or equal to last year. ==> Score 1.
Question 6. Change in Working Capital (Liquidity)
Compare this year's current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) to last year's current ratio.
Score 1 if this year's current ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower
* Note that for banks and insurance companies, there's no Total Current Assets and Total Current Liabilities reported. Thus, we use Total Assets and Total Liabilities to calculate current ratio for banks and insurance companies.
Korea Fund's current ratio of this year was 100.04089506. Korea Fund's current ratio of last year was 136.46251217.
==> Last year's current ratio is higher ==> Score 0.
Question 7. Change in Shares in Issue
Compare the number of shares in issue this year, to the number in issue last year.
Score 0 if there is larger number of shares in issue this year, 1 otherwise.
Korea Fund's number of shares in issue this year was 3.569. Korea Fund's number of shares in issue last year was 4.846.
==> There is smaller number of shares in issue this year, or the same. ==> Score 1.
Efficiency
Question 8. Change in Gross Margin
Compare this year's gross margin (Gross Profit divided by sales) to last year's.
Score 1 if this year's gross margin is higher, 0 if it's lower.
* Note that for banks and insurance companies, there's no Gross Profit reported. Thus, we use net income instead of gross profit and calculate Net Margin for this score.
Korea Fund's net margin of this year was 0.84540541. Korea Fund's net margin of last year was 0.87852966.
==> Last year's net margin is higher ==> Score 0.
Question 9. Change in asset turnover
Compare this year's asset turnover (total sales for the year divided by total assets at the beginning of the year) to last year's asset turnover ratio.
Score 1 if this year's asset turnover ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower
Korea Fund's asset turnover of this year was 0.07260234. Korea Fund's asset turnover of last year was 0.091046.
==> Last year's asset turnover is higher ==> Score 0.
Evaluation
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Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3
Korea Fund has an F-score of 3. It is a bad or low score, which usually implies poor business operation.
Korea Fund (KF) has a Piotroski F-Score of 3 as of Aug. 13, 2026. The Piotroski F-score grades a company's business operating strength from 0-9. View historical data on Korea Fund and its competitors. This is 40% below median its historical median of 5.00. Over the past decade, Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score has ranged from 3.00 to 7.00. According to the industry distribution chart, Korea Fund ranks #1244 out of 1590 companies in the Asset Management industry, placing it in the top 78.2%.
Is Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score too high?
Korea Fund's current Piotroski F-Score of 3 is 40% below median its 10-year median of 5.00. Over the past 10 years, this metric has ranged from a low of 3.00 to a high of 7.00. The Asset Management industry median Piotroski F-Score is 5.00. Korea Fund's value of 3 is 40% below this industry median. Based on the distribution chart, Korea Fund ranks #1244 out of 1590 companies in the Asset Management industry, which is in the bottom quartile relative to peers. Overall, Korea Fund has a GF Score™ of 37/100, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Korea Fund's Piotroski F-Score compare to GLO and KWY?
According to the Asset Management industry distribution chart, Korea Fund ranks #1244 out of 1590 companies for Piotroski F-Score. This places Korea Fund in the lower half of its industry. The industry median Piotroski F-Score is 5.00. Korea Fund's value of 3 is 40% below this benchmark. Historically, Korea Fund's own Piotroski F-Score has ranged from 3.00 to 7.00 over the past decade. While the company's 10-year median is 5.00 vs. the industry median of 5.00, Korea Fund has consistently been below the industry average. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Piotroski F-Score for an Asset Management company?
The median Piotroski F-Score among Asset Management companies is 5.00, based on 1,590 companies in the industry. Companies in the top quartile (top 25%) have a Piotroski F-Score significantly above this median, while those in the bottom quartile fall well below. However, Piotroski F-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Korea Fund's current Piotroski F-Score of 3 is 40% below the industry median. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Piotroski F-Score mean?
A high Piotroski F-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Piotroski F-score grades a company's business operating strength from 0-9. View historical data on Korea Fund and its competitors. For the Asset Management industry, the median Piotroski F-Score is 5.00 — values significantly above this may indicate overvaluation, while values below may suggest a bargain or underlying issues. Korea Fund's current Piotroski F-Score is 3, which is 40% below median its own 10-year median of 5.00. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Korea Fund stock overvalued right now?
Korea Fund (KF) has a current Piotroski F-Score of 3. The current Piotroski F-Score is 3, which is 40% below median its 10-year median of 5.00 and 40% below the Asset Management industry median of 5.00. Korea Fund's overall GF Score™ is 37/100 with 2 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Piotroski F-Score calculated?
Piotroski F-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Korea Fund (KF), the current Piotroski F-Score is 3 as of Aug. 13, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.
Korea Fund Inc is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company. Its investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation through investment in securities, equity securities, of Korean companies. Its portfolio consists of the different sectors such as the auto components, banks, beverages, chemicals, aerospace and defense, insurance, machinery, and Others.
37GF Score
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