Short Interest in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Expands By 20.4%

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 309,200 shares, a growth of 20.4% from the August 31st total of 256,800 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Koppers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KOP traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.53. 126,252 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 152,958. The company has a market cap of $774.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.84. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. Koppers has a 12-month low of $33.80 and a 12-month high of $58.23.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $563.20 million during 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%. Koppers’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Koppers will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other news, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 5,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $208,063.52. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,300 shares in the company, valued at $388,516. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Koppers by 1.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,187,926 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,942,000 after acquiring an additional 18,469 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Koppers by 10.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 472,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,086,000 after buying an additional 45,003 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Koppers by 1.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 221,207 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,182,000 after buying an additional 3,402 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Koppers by 586.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 196,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,276,000 after buying an additional 168,063 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Koppers during the second quarter valued at $5,671,000. Institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KOP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Singular Research upgraded Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a report on Monday, August 12th.

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.