Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Given “Outperform” Rating at Barrington Research

Barrington Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $64.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Separately, Singular Research raised shares of Koppers from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $67.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Koppers Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:KOP opened at $43.16 on Friday. Koppers has a 1-year low of $28.45 and a 1-year high of $58.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $907.65 million, a P/E ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.90.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. Koppers had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 3.59%. The company had revenue of $497.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Koppers’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Koppers will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Koppers’s payout ratio is 7.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $37,807.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $37,807.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 22,403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total transaction of $1,207,745.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 55,658 shares in the company, valued at $3,000,522.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,591 shares of company stock worth $1,700,094 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Koppers in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in Koppers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Koppers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $88,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Koppers in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $136,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Koppers in the third quarter worth $209,000. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.