Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Trading 5.8% Higher

Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) shot up 5.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $45.69 and last traded at $45.60. 37,020 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 128,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on KOP. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research report on Friday. Singular Research raised shares of Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.50 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Koppers Trading Up 3.0 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.64 and its 200-day moving average is $48.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $933.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.86.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. Koppers had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The business had revenue of $497.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Koppers’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is 7.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Koppers news, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 3,488 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.61, for a total transaction of $186,991.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,981,908.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 22,403 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total transaction of $1,207,745.73. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,000,522.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 3,488 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.61, for a total value of $186,991.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 36,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,981,908.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,591 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,094 in the last three months. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koppers

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Koppers by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 18,224 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Koppers by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 15,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Koppers by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,767 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Koppers in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Koppers by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 45,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Koppers Company 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.