Koppers (NYSE:KOP) CEO M Leroy Ball Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) CEO M Leroy Ball sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.96, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $149,786.80.

Koppers Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of KOP opened at $45.95 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.12. The firm has a market cap of $868.91 million, a P/E ratio of -9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.23. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.00 and a 12-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.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Koppers had a negative net margin of 4.59% and a positive return on equity of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $520.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-4.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is presently -7.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koppers

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Koppers in the second quarter valued at approximately $445,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Koppers by 4,694.1% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Koppers in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Koppers by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 2,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Koppers during the 2nd quarter worth $4,615,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KOP shares. Singular Research upgraded Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Koppers from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Koppers from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Koppers presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Koppers Company Profile

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.