Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Shares Down 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) dropped 2.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $29.90 and last traded at $29.78. Approximately 17,927 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 139,034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KOP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Koppers Stock Down 5.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $576.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.79. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.18). Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The business had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. This is an increase from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.17%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koppers

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Koppers by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,237,486 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,094,000 after purchasing an additional 8,111 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Koppers by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 908,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,444,000 after buying an additional 138,603 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Koppers by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 632,862 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,505,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Koppers by 20.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,778,000 after buying an additional 97,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $15,521,000 after buying an additional 20,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

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.