Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.41 and last traded at $41.5550, with a volume of 2960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KOP shares. Weiss Ratings raised Koppers from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.50.

Koppers Trading Down 1.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $797.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.89 and a 200-day moving average of $32.26.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. Koppers had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 2.98%.The firm had revenue of $432.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-5.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.18 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 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Koppers’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Koppers

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.91, for a total transaction of $94,357.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 447,459 shares in the company, valued at $16,963,170.69. This trade represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KOP. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Koppers in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings 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 lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Koppers by 23.5% in 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. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Koppers in the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Koppers Company Profile

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.