Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Short Interest Update

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 288,500 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the September 30th total of 255,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 149,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Koppers Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of KOP traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $34.01. The company had a trading volume of 78,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 146,568. The stock has a market cap of $721.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.98. Koppers has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $58.23.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $563.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.17 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 3.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Koppers will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KOP. Singular Research raised Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a report on Monday, August 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Koppers

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Koppers by 91.7% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 119,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,601,000 after purchasing an additional 57,252 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Koppers by 78.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 65,018 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,587,000 after buying an additional 28,605 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in 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 last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the second quarter valued at about $5,671,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers during the second quarter worth about $700,000. 92.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Koppers Company 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.