Skylands Capital LLC Buys 19,549 Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Skylands Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 75.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,399 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,549 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC owned about 0.22% of Koppers worth $2,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Koppers by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $18,303,000 after acquiring an additional 104,590 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the third quarter valued at $439,000. Advisor Partners II LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the third quarter valued at $459,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the third quarter valued at $489,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 617.2% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 63,727 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 54,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KOP shares. Singular Research upgraded Koppers from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $67.50 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Koppers news, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $37,807.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,005,479.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $267,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 323,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,288,010.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total value of $37,807.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at $6,005,479.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,591 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,094 over the last three months. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Koppers Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KOP traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $53.53. 60,712 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 126,440. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 2.14. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.45 and a 52-week high of $58.23. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $53.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.86.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $513.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $483.67 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 4.14%. Koppers's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Koppers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.75%.

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.