Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $39.50 and last traded at $38.94, with a volume of 21386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KOP shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Koppers from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.50.

Koppers Trading Down 1.0%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.15 and a 200 day moving average of $29.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $733.51 million, a PE ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Koppers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Koppers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is 13.00%.

Insider Transactions at Koppers

In other Koppers news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.91, for a total value of $94,357.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 447,459 shares in the company, valued at $16,963,170.69. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Koppers in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Koppers during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Koppers by 258.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Koppers by 95.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Koppers by 23.5% in the 2nd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

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.