Koppers’ (KOP) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at B. Riley

B. Riley restated their buy rating on shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $50.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Koppers’ Q3 2023 earnings at $1.32 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KOP. Barrington Research increased their target price on Koppers from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Koppers in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating for the company.

Koppers Price Performance

KOP opened at $41.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.64. Koppers has a 12-month low of $20.11 and a 12-month high of $41.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $871.53 million, a P/E ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.88.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.18. Koppers had a return on equity of 23.76% and a net margin of 3.93%. The firm had revenue of $577.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $531.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Koppers will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 24th. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Koppers news, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 4,096 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.56, for a total value of $157,941.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,884.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Bradley A. Pearce sold 2,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total value of $115,273.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,971.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 4,096 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.56, for a total value of $157,941.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,884.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,445 shares of company stock worth $444,435. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Koppers by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,126,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,528,000 after acquiring an additional 181,916 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Koppers by 225.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 221,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,005,000 after buying an additional 153,118 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Koppers by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 461,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,128,000 after buying an additional 115,565 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Koppers by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 577,311 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,189,000 after buying an additional 74,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Koppers by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 974,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,090,000 after buying an additional 72,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.81% of the company’s stock.

About Koppers

Koppers Holdings Inc provides treated wood products, wood preservation chemicals, and carbon compounds in the United States, Australasia, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Railroad and Utility Products and Services (RUPS), Performance Chemicals (PC), and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC).The RUPS segment procures and treats crossties, switch ties, and various types of lumber used for railroad bridges and crossings.