Foreign ownership of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. has reached an eight-year high as overseas investors snap up its shares despite their overall selling mode on the local stock market, data showed Sunday.

As of Friday, foreign investors held 52.33 percent of the top-cap company on the local bourse, the highest proportion since June 13, 2006, according to data from the Korea Exchange and financial sources.

Last month, offshore investors bought a net 881.2 billion (US$825 million) worth of Samsung shares.

In contrast, foreigners sold a net 2.41 trillion won worth of South Korean stocks on the main bourse alone, according to the data.

Market watchers said foreign investors seem to consider Samsung "undervalued" despite growing worries over its performance.

"Foreign investors appear to put a greater emphasis on the fact that Samsung's shares remain undervalued," said Lee Seung-hyuk, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities Co.

Samsung reported Thursday net profit reached 4.22 trillion won in the July-September period, down 48.7 percent from 8.24 trillion won the previous year and the lowest in three years, on declining sales of flagship smartphones.

Operating profit tumbled 60 percent on-year to 4.1 trillion won from a record high of 10.1 trillion won in the same quarter of 2013, with sales falling 19.6 percent on-year to 47.4 trillion won. (Yonhap)