D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 53,182 Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 579.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 53,182 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Koppers worth $2,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DC Investments Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Koppers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,377,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Koppers by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 219,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $7,101,000 after purchasing an additional 5,233 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Koppers by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,031 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Koppers by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Koppers by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 76,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KOP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. StockNews.com raised Koppers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd.

Koppers Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE KOP opened at $30.48 on Thursday. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.99 and a 12 month high of $44.64. The stock has a market cap of $609.80 million, a P/E ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $26.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.15. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The firm had revenue of $456.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $488.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

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.

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