Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Short Interest Down 36.4% in December

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 808,495 shares, a drop of 36.4% from the November 30th total of 1,271,306 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 131,313 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 131,313 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koppers

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 2nd quarter worth about $872,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 33.9% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 19,105 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 4,840 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Koppers by 145.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 186,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,003,000 after buying an additional 110,577 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers in the first quarter valued at about $1,143,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Koppers by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,248,032 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,124,000 after buying an additional 26,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Price Performance

Shares of KOP stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $27.28. The company had a trading volume of 139,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,882. Koppers has a 12-month low of $22.99 and a 12-month high of $35.61. The company has a market capitalization of $535.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 2.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.37 and a 200-day moving average of $29.63.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.04). Koppers had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 0.84%.The company had revenue of $485.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Koppers has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.000-4.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Koppers will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. Koppers’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KOP shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Koppers from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Koppers currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.50.

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.