Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,586 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.81% of Koppers worth $20,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Koppers by 5.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Koppers by 356.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 36,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 28,855 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Koppers by 345.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 2,905 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 2,253 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Koppers by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 60,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 34,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Villanova Investment Management Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 24.8% in the third quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 28,994 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758 shares in the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of KOP opened at $31.75 on Thursday. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.64 and a 1 year high of $58.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.92. The company has a market capitalization of $643.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.54.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Koppers’s payout ratio is currently 7.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 314,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,711,749.50. The trade was a 1.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen R. Tritch sold 3,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.08, for a total value of $131,003.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,770,087.96. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,533 shares of company stock valued at $544,164. Insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.