Villanova Investment Management Co LLC Acquires 5,758 Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Villanova Investment Management Co LLC increased its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 24.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 5,758 shares during the period. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Koppers were worth $1,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KOP. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Koppers by 170.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Koppers during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Koppers by 83.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Koppers in the second quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of Koppers stock opened at $36.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $733.77 million, a PE ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.83. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.80 and a 52 week high of $58.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.12. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The business had revenue of $554.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $571.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. Koppers’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Koppers news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $189,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 315,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,949,691.68. This represents a 1.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.08, for a total transaction of $131,003.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,770,087.96. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,533 shares of company stock worth $544,164. 6.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KOP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Singular Research upgraded Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

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.