Trexquant Investment LP Has $1.98 Million Stock Position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 34.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.30% of Koppers worth $1,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Koppers by 18.0% in 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Koppers by 112.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 141,582 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,587,000 after purchasing an additional 75,022 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Koppers by 128.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 60,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,212,000 after purchasing an additional 34,074 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Koppers by 356.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 28,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on KOP shares. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Koppers Price Performance

KOP traded up $0.10 on Monday, hitting $25.01. 5,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 155,423. The firm has a market capitalization of $512.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.50. 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 12 month low of $22.99 and a 12 month high of $56.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.44.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.18). Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.00 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Koppers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Koppers's payout ratio is currently 13.17%.

Koppers announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management 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.