Barclays PLC Grows Stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 356.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,855 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.18% of Koppers worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Koppers by 170.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Koppers by 83.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Koppers by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on KOP. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Singular Research upgraded Koppers to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Koppers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other Koppers news, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.08, for a total transaction of $131,003.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 47,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,770,087.96. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $189,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 315,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,949,691.68. This trade represents a 1.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,533 shares of company stock valued at $544,164 over the last 90 days. 6.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Koppers Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KOP opened at $29.61 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.22. The company has a market cap of $600.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.86. 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 Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $29.25 and a one year high of $58.23.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.12. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The business had revenue of $554.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $571.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.95%.

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.