Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $482,000 Position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 14,885 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $482,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.07% of Koppers as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Koppers by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 908,772 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $29,444,000 after acquiring an additional 138,603 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Koppers by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 568,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $20,778,000 after purchasing an additional 97,586 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Koppers by 101.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 156,632 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,075,000 after purchasing an additional 78,732 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Koppers by 112.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 141,582 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,587,000 after buying an additional 75,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in Koppers by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 177,570 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,753,000 after buying an additional 67,470 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 reports. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koppers from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Koppers Trading Up 3.4 %

KOP traded up $0.90 on Friday, hitting $27.06. 202,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 156,111. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $554.35 million, a PE ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 1.44. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.99 and a 12 month high of $45.21.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.71 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $488.00 million. Koppers had a net margin of 3.55% and a return on equity of 16.71%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.17%.

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.