Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Grows Position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 193.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 130,816 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 86,246 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.65% of Koppers worth $4,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KOP. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,782 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 579.8% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 62,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,020,000 after purchasing an additional 53,182 shares during the period. DC Investments Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Koppers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,377,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 219,172 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $7,101,000 after purchasing an additional 5,233 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,031 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KOP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 target price 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 report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Koppers Stock Down 0.4%

KOP stock traded down $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $31.25. 14,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 155,424. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $22.99 and a one year high of $44.64. 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 company has a market cap of $625.33 million, a P/E ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.72.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $456.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $488.00 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 16.71% and a net margin of 3.55%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Koppers's payout ratio is 27.59%.

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

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.