Barrington Research Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Koppers (NYSE:KOP)

Koppers (NYSE:KOP)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Barrington Research in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Barrington Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 47.24% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on KOP. Zacks Research raised shares of Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Koppers from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Koppers currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.50.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KOP opened at $37.36 on Thursday. Koppers has a 12-month low of $22.99 and a 12-month high of $39.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $722.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.30. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.89 and a 200 day moving average of $30.48.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $432.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-5.000 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Koppers will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Koppers by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 29,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in Koppers by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 48,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Koppers by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Koppers by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 65,695 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Koppers by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 62,361 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is currently 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.