21,933 Shares in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Purchased by Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,933 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KOP. Skylands Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 45,399 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,325,000 after acquiring an additional 19,549 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Koppers by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 23,098 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 6,167 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Koppers by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers during the fourth quarter worth about $533,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Koppers in the 4th quarter worth $328,000. 92.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on KOP. Singular Research raised shares of Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.50 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Koppers currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.50.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other Koppers news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total transaction of $267,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 323,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,288,010.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 3,488 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.61, for a total transaction of $186,991.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 36,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,981,908.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total transaction of $267,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 323,080 shares in the company, valued at $17,288,010.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,591 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,094 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of KOP stock traded down $2.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.28. The stock had a trading volume of 112,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 126,276. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.49. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.45 and a fifty-two week high of $58.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.05). Koppers had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 4.14%. The firm had revenue of $513.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $483.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. Koppers’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is an increase from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Koppers’s payout ratio is 6.75%.

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.