Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,397 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Koppers by 29.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,303,000 after purchasing an additional 104,590 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,022,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Koppers in the third quarter valued at about $439,000. Advisor Partners II LLC bought a new stake in Koppers in the third quarter valued at about $459,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Koppers in the third quarter worth about $489,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE KOP opened at $53.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $28.45 and a one year high of $58.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.86.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.05). Koppers had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 4.14%. The business had revenue of $513.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Koppers’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KOP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Singular Research upgraded Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $267,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 323,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,288,010.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Koppers news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total transaction of $267,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 323,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,288,010.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $37,807.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,591 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,094 over the last three months. 6.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.