Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Koppers from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research raised Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.50.

Koppers Stock Performance

NYSE:KOP opened at $40.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $781.47 million, a PE ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Koppers has a twelve month low of $25.00 and a twelve month high of $46.40.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $455.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.10 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.10%.Koppers’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-4.600 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Koppers will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.47%.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,659 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.55, for a total transaction of $113,140.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,896,284.80. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 258.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 95.6% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 23.5% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,235 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the fourth quarter valued at about $114,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the third quarter valued at about $160,000. 92.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.