Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Singular Research raised shares of Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Koppers Stock Performance

Koppers stock opened at $37.92 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.82. The company has a market cap of $768.64 million, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.84. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $58.23.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $554.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $571.80 million. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Koppers will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Koppers

In other Koppers news, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 5,516 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total value of $208,063.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,300 shares in the company, valued at $388,516. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 1.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,187,926 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,942,000 after buying an additional 18,469 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 91.8% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 770,169 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,134,000 after buying an additional 368,709 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 20.7% in 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 5.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 424,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,521,000 after buying an additional 20,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 1.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 221,207 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,182,000 after buying an additional 3,402 shares during the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.