Key Points
- CEO sale: Koppers CEO M. Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares on March 17 at $37.91 for $94,357.99, reducing his stake by 0.55% to 447,459 shares valued at about $16.96M.
- Earnings and guidance: The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.70 vs. $0.59) despite a 9.3% YoY revenue decline to $432.7M, and set FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.20–$5.00 (analysts expect ~4.24).
- Dividend and market view: Koppers raised its quarterly dividend to $0.09 (annualized $0.36, ~1.0% yield), institutional investors own ~92.8% of shares, and analysts' average rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a $52.50 target.
Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.91, for a total transaction of $94,357.99. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.
Koppers Stock Down 1.5%
NYSE:KOP traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $37.14. 8,233 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 185,810. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.99 and a fifty-two week high of $39.50. The company has a market capitalization of $729.37 million, a PE ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.86.
Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $432.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.00 million. Koppers had a net margin of 2.98% and a return on equity of 15.47%. Koppers's revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-5.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Koppers Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This is a boost from Koppers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. 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%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koppers
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOP. Simcoe Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Koppers in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,032,000. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Koppers by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,724,000 after purchasing an additional 139,600 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Koppers in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,635,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Koppers by 145.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 186,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,003,000 after purchasing an additional 110,577 shares during the period. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Koppers by 209.4% during the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 112,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,044,000 after purchasing an additional 76,068 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 several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Koppers from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Koppers from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Koppers in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Koppers from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.50.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on KOP
Koppers Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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