M Leroy Ball Sells 2,489 Shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Stock

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Koppers Price Performance

Shares of Koppers stock opened at $37.49 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.35 and a 200 day moving average of $29.91. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.99 and a 52 week high of $39.50. The company has a market cap of $736.32 million, a PE ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. Koppers had a net margin of 2.98% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $432.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 research analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koppers

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KOP. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of Koppers during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Koppers in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Koppers by 95.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Koppers by 23.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is 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.