Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.50.

KOP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Koppers from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Koppers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on shares of Koppers from $62.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Koppers news, SVP Stephen Lucas sold 1,308 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.55, for a total value of $58,271.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 34,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,530,069.75. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leroy Ball sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,808 shares of company stock valued at $754,631. Company insiders own 7.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koppers

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Koppers in the 2nd quarter worth about $136,837,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Koppers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Koppers during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,993,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Koppers during the 1st quarter worth about $6,269,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Koppers during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,294,000. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Koppers Price Performance

Shares of KOP traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $29.33. 122,243 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,019. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. Koppers has a 52-week low of $26.02 and a 52-week high of $53.00. The company has a market cap of $554.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.68.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.60). The company had revenue of $499.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $518.60 million. Koppers had a negative net margin of 5.03% and a positive return on equity of 14.17%. Koppers’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Koppers will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently -7.00%.

About Koppers

Koppers Holdings Inc (NYSE:KOP) is a global provider of treated wood products, carbon compounds and performance chemicals. The company serves infrastructure, industrial and utility markets with products designed to preserve, protect and extend the service life of wood and other materials.

Koppers operates through two primary business areas: Railroad and Utility Products and Services, and Performance Chemicals. Its offerings include treated railroad crossties, utility poles, pilings and other wood products, as well as wood preservatives and related treatment services.