Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 288,500 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the September 30th total of 255,800 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 149,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KOP. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Singular Research raised shares of Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Transactions at Koppers

In other news, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 5,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $208,063.52. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,516. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Koppers by 586.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 196,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,276,000 after purchasing an additional 168,063 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Koppers during the second quarter valued at about $5,671,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Koppers by 20.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $20,778,000 after buying an additional 97,586 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Koppers by 167.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 94,884 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,510,000 after acquiring an additional 59,416 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Koppers by 91.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 119,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,601,000 after acquiring an additional 57,252 shares during the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Koppers Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Koppers stock traded down $0.29 on Thursday, hitting $34.01. The company had a trading volume of 78,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 146,568. The stock has a market capitalization of $721.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.53. Koppers has a 1 year low of $33.80 and a 1 year high of $58.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.77 and a 200-day moving average of $39.98.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.09. Koppers had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The firm had revenue of $563.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $589.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Koppers will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.89%.

About Koppers

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.