Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 5,461 Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,461 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Koppers were worth $574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 20,586 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its stake in Koppers by 62.4% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 11,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 277.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Koppers by 314.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 44,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,628,000 after buying an additional 33,817 shares in the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Koppers Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of KOP opened at $27.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.54. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.00 and a 52 week high of $56.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $572.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.95 and a 200-day moving average of $33.36.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.00 million. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.17%.

Koppers declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.