Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

by · The Cerbat Gem

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP – Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 255,800 shares, a drop of 17.3% from the September 15th total of 309,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 163,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 5,516 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,300 shares in the company, valued at $388,516. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in Koppers by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 18,224 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Koppers by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 15,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Koppers by 2.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,767 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Koppers by 3.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Koppers by 3.9% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Stock Performance

KOP traded down $0.56 on Monday, reaching $36.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,729. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.99 and its 200 day moving average is $41.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock has a market cap of $773.16 million, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.84. Koppers has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $58.23.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $563.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.17 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 3.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Koppers will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Koppers’s payout ratio is 7.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a report on Monday, August 12th.

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About Koppers

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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.

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