Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 1,596 Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.99% of Koppers worth $6,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Koppers during the third quarter valued at $37,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Koppers by 83.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in Koppers by 277.2% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Koppers in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Koppers by 345.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,905 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of KOP stock opened at $30.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.54. The company has a market capitalization of $615.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.74. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.00 and a 52 week high of $56.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.97.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.00 million. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Koppers’s payout ratio is presently 13.17%.

Koppers declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.