Insider Selling: Koppers (NYSE:KOP) CEO Sells $183,840.00 in Stock

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) CEO M Leroy Ball sold 4,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.96, for a total value of $183,840.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 429,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,742,347.80. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

M Leroy Ball also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 19th, M Leroy Ball sold 3,000 shares of Koppers stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $137,520.00.
• On Thursday, June 18th, M Leroy Ball sold 3,412 shares of Koppers stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $149,786.80.

Koppers Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Koppers stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.95. 177,118 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 188,893. The stock has a market capitalization of $869.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.25. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.00 and a twelve month high of $53.00. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.04.

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

Koppers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Koppers’s payout ratio is currently -7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on KOP shares. Singular Research raised Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Koppers from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Koppers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Koppers during the second quarter worth approximately $136,837,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Koppers during the 2nd quarter worth $47,652,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Koppers by 4,694.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 896,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,270,000 after purchasing an additional 878,170 shares in the last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Koppers in the fourth quarter valued at about $22,032,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Koppers in the second quarter valued at about $9,993,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

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.