Investors Research Corp Decreases Holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Investors Research Corp reduced its position in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Koppers were worth $466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Koppers in the 4th quarter worth $533,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Koppers in the fourth quarter worth about $328,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Koppers by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 89,922 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,606,000 after buying an additional 26,195 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Koppers in the 4th quarter worth about $953,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,822 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KOP. StockNews.com cut Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Singular Research raised shares of Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.50 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other news, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total value of $37,807.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Koppers news, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total value of $37,807.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $267,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 323,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,288,010.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,591 shares of company stock worth $1,700,094. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Koppers Stock Up 1.2 %

Koppers stock opened at $55.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.45 and a 1-year high of $58.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.45.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $513.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $483.67 million. Koppers had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Koppers’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is an increase from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.75%.

Koppers Profile

Koppers Holdings Inc provides treated wood products, wood preservation chemicals, and carbon compounds in the United States, Australasia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Railroad and Utility Products and Services (RUPS), Performance Chemicals (PC), and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC) segments.