Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,167 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Koppers were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KOP. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Koppers by 20.7% in the 3rd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Koppers by 5.1% during 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Koppers by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 201,557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 184,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,978,000 after acquiring an additional 11,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Koppers by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 107,819 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Trading Down 5.6 %

KOP opened at $28.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $575.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.64. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.00 and a 1-year high of $56.96. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $497.00 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. Analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a boost from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Koppers’s payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Koppers declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KOP shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday.

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.