Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 33,817 Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 314.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 33,817 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.22% of Koppers worth $1,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Koppers by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 132,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,883,000 after buying an additional 35,741 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Koppers in the second quarter worth about $5,671,000. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the second quarter worth about $700,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Koppers by 20.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 97,586 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Koppers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,022,000. Institutional investors own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KOP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Singular Research upgraded shares of Koppers to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Koppers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Koppers Stock Performance

Koppers stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $35.54. 56,084 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 143,922. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $58.23. The stock has a market cap of $720.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.82. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.12. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The business had revenue of $554.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $571.80 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. Koppers's revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.95%.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In related news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.26, for a total transaction of $223,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 314,325 shares in the company, valued at $11,711,749.50. The trade was a 1.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.08, for a total value of $131,003.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 47,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,770,087.96. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,533 shares of company stock valued at $544,164 over the last ninety days. 6.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.