Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 97,586 Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 97,586 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.68% of Koppers worth $20,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KOP. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Koppers by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 18,224 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Koppers by 2.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,767 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Koppers by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 10,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Koppers by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Koppers by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 76,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,840,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other Koppers news, VP Joseph P. Dowd sold 5,516 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total value of $208,063.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $388,516. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Koppers Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of KOP traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.44. 75,863 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 145,597. The firm has a market capitalization of $758.91 million, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.84. 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 fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $58.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.39 and a 200-day moving average of $38.82.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.12. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The company had revenue of $554.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $571.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. The firm's revenue 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 year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.95%.

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.