Verition Fund Management LLC Decreases Position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Verition Fund Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 9,045 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Koppers were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KOP. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Koppers by 237.2% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,558 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Koppers by 33.7% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Koppers by 37.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 132,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,883,000 after buying an additional 35,741 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Koppers during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,671,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Koppers by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 92.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Koppers Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KOP opened at $33.81 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.53. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.38 and a 12 month high of $58.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $685.33 million, a PE ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 1.83.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $554.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $571.80 million. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. Koppers’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Koppers news, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 47,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,770,087.96. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.26, for a total transaction of $223,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,711,749.50. This represents a 1.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,533 shares of company stock worth $544,164. 6.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KOP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Singular Research upgraded Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

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.