R Squared Ltd Makes New Investment in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Koppers by 170.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 83.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Koppers by 277.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Koppers by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the period. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Koppers Stock Down 2.8 %

KOP stock opened at $29.77 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $603.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 1.86. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.12. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The business had revenue of $554.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $571.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.26, for a total value of $223,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,711,749.50. The trade was a 1.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 47,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,770,087.96. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,533 shares of company stock worth $544,164. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

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.