Koppers’ (KOP) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Barrington Research

Barrington Research reissued their outperform rating on shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $55.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Koppers from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.50.

Koppers Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:KOP opened at $37.26 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Koppers has a 12-month low of $22.99 and a 12-month high of $39.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.60. The company has a market capitalization of $720.53 million, a PE ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. Koppers had a net margin of 2.98% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The firm had revenue of $432.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-5.000 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Koppers will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Koppers’s payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.91, for a total value of $94,357.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 447,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,963,170.69. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Koppers during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 258.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 95.6% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Koppers by 23.5% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,235 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Koppers

Koppers Company, Inc is a global specialty chemicals and materials manufacturer serving diverse industrial markets. The company operates through two primary segments: Carbon Materials & Chemicals, which produces a range of coal tar–based products, phenolic specialties and carbon compounds; and Railroad Products & Services, which offers wood treating and infrastructure services for rail and utility customers.

In its Carbon Materials & Chemicals segment, Koppers supplies coal tar pitch, refined creosote, coal tar‐based distillates and phenolic resins used in aluminum smelting, graphite electrode manufacture, carbon fiber production, and water treatment applications.