Kennondale Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Kennondale Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,512 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ironwood Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Koppers by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 85,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Koppers by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 908,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $29,444,000 after acquiring an additional 138,603 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Koppers by 205.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,271 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 8,248 shares during the period. Inceptionr LLC grew its position in shares of Koppers by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 9,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 4th quarter valued at about $482,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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Koppers Price Performance

Koppers stock traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.12. The company had a trading volume of 544,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 142,449. The company has a market capitalization of $575.96 million, a P/E ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 1.74. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.00 and a 12-month high of $56.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $30.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.71. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $497.00 million. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from Koppers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Koppers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.17%.

Koppers declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.