Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $46.03, but opened at $43.71. Koppers shares last traded at $44.01, with a volume of 982 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KOP shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Koppers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Koppers from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Koppers Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $835.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.37 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.85 and a 200-day moving average of $43.91.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.25. Koppers had a positive return on equity of 14.98% and a negative net margin of 4.59%.The company had revenue of $520.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Koppers’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-4.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.08 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. Koppers’s payout ratio is presently -7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Leroy Ball sold 4,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.96, for a total value of $183,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 429,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,742,347.80. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Stephen G. Lucas sold 1,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.55, for a total transaction of $58,271.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 34,345 shares in the company, valued at $1,530,069.75. This represents a 3.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 97,808 shares of company stock valued at $4,857,451 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koppers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Koppers during the 2nd quarter worth about $136,837,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Koppers in the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Koppers in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,993,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the first quarter worth approximately $6,269,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the second quarter worth approximately $5,294,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Company Profile

Koppers Holdings Inc is a global provider of treated wood products, carbon compounds and specialty chemicals used in infrastructure, transportation and industrial applications. The company’s products include railroad and utility poles, treated lumber, wood preservatives, carbon pitch and other chemicals used in aluminum production, construction, steelmaking and related industries.

Koppers serves railroads, utilities, aluminum producers, infrastructure contractors and industrial manufacturers.