Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $46.84 and last traded at $46.6310, with a volume of 17696 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KOP shares. Weiss Ratings raised Koppers from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Singular Research upgraded shares of Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Koppers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.50.

Koppers Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $890.06 million, a PE ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $455.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.10 million. Koppers had a net margin of 4.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-4.600 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Koppers’s payout ratio is presently 9.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Koppers news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 3,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $149,786.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 436,243 shares in the company, valued at $19,151,067.70. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 7.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Koppers by 95.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Koppers by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,235 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers in the 3rd quarter valued at $160,000. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.