Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Koppers Stock Up 5.8 %

Shares of KOP stock opened at $30.02 on Thursday. Koppers has a 1-year low of $27.00 and a 1-year high of $56.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $615.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.74.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.18). Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.00 million. On average, research analysts expect that Koppers will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Koppers’s payout ratio is 13.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koppers

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KOP. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Koppers by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 97,586 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Koppers by 36.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Koppers by 83.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Koppers by 137.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 102,586 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,747,000 after purchasing an additional 59,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Koppers by 31.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 44,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,620,000 after purchasing an additional 10,677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

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.