Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $482,000 in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,885 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $482,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Koppers at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOP. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 70,685 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,290,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Koppers by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Koppers by 145.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,027 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 0.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Koppers during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KOP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Koppers Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of KOP traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.92. 112,724 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 155,765. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.47. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.99 and a 52 week high of $56.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $510.45 million, a PE ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.50. 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 (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.00 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. On average, analysts predict 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. This is a positive change from Koppers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Koppers announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.