Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Short Interest Up 18.4% in May

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 760,600 shares, an increase of 18.4% from the April 30th total of 642,200 shares. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 193,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koppers

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOP. First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in Koppers by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 17,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 2,554 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Koppers by 374.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 52,076 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 41,097 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Koppers by 3.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 111,031 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Koppers by 1.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 107,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,998,000 after buying an additional 1,845 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Koppers by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Koppers Price Performance

Shares of KOP traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.07. 36,189 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 154,286. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $27.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.25. The stock has a market cap of $641.62 million, a PE ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.44. Koppers has a 12 month low of $22.99 and a 12 month high of $44.19.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. Koppers's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Koppers will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Koppers's payout ratio is 27.59%.

Koppers announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 16.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on KOP. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Koppers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd.

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.