Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lowered its holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 49.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,285 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Koppers were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KOP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 20,586 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Koppers in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,671,000. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 2nd quarter worth about $700,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Koppers by 20.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 97,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,022,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $189,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 315,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,949,691.68. The trade was a 1.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.08, for a total value of $131,003.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,770,087.96. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,533 shares of company stock valued at $544,164. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KOP opened at $31.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.33. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.95 and a 1 year high of $58.23. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $634.62 million, a PE ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.83.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.12. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The business had revenue of $554.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $571.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KOP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Singular Research raised shares of Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

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.