Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Invests $337,000 in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,230 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KOP. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Koppers in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 3,633.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,438 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 8,212 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Koppers by 31.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 44,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,620,000 after buying an additional 10,677 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Koppers by 137.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 102,586 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,747,000 after buying an additional 59,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Koppers by 83.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.08, for a total value of $131,003.64. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 47,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,770,087.96. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 6,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.26, for a total transaction of $223,560.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 314,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,711,749.50. The trade was a 1.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,533 shares of company stock worth $544,164 in the last three months. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Koppers Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of KOP stock opened at $38.46 on Friday. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.80 and a 1 year high of $58.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $779.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 1.84.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $554.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $571.80 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KOP. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Singular Research raised Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

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.