Federated Hermes Inc. Has $4.23 Million Stock Position in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,545 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,324 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Koppers were worth $4,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Koppers by 29.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,303,000 after acquiring an additional 104,590 shares during the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC bought a new stake in Koppers during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,022,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Koppers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $439,000. Advisor Partners II LLC bought a new position in shares of Koppers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $459,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Koppers by 617.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 63,727 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 54,841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KOP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Singular Research upgraded Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Koppers news, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 22,403 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total value of $1,207,745.73. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 55,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,000,522.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Koppers news, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 22,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total transaction of $1,207,745.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 55,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,000,522.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $267,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 323,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,288,010.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,591 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,094. 6.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Koppers Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KOP opened at $52.73 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 1.86. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.45 and a 52 week high of $58.23. 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 (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.05). Koppers had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 4.14%. The business had revenue of $513.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $483.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Koppers’s payout ratio is currently 6.75%.

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.