10,400 Shares in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 10,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,303,000 after purchasing an additional 104,590 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Koppers by 326.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 123,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,894,000 after purchasing an additional 94,732 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its position in Koppers by 6.9% during the third quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,138,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,031,000 after buying an additional 73,151 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Koppers by 617.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 63,727 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after buying an additional 54,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Koppers in the third quarter worth about $1,898,000. 92.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Koppers

In related news, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 22,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total value of $1,207,745.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,522.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 22,403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total value of $1,207,745.73. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,522.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total value of $37,807.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,591 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,094. Company insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KOP. Singular Research upgraded Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.50 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Koppers presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Koppers Stock Performance

Koppers stock opened at $53.53 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.86. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.45 and a 1-year high of $58.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.93 and a 200-day moving average of $48.49.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $513.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $483.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This is an increase from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Koppers’s payout ratio is presently 6.75%.

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.