Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $49.00 and last traded at $48.2640, with a volume of 2718 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $47.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Koppers Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $927.94 million, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.13 and a 200 day moving average of $37.26.

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

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Koppers

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 3,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $149,786.80. Following the transaction, 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 at this link. 7.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Koppers by 258.1% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 23.5% during 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. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 4th quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 3rd quarter valued at $160,000. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by 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.