Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Shares Gap Down to $52.91

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $52.91, but opened at $51.60. Koppers shares last traded at $47.39, with a volume of 46,126 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KOP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a research note on Friday. Singular Research upgraded Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $67.50 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Koppers Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 2.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.69. The company has a market capitalization of $924.69 million, a P/E ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.86.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. Koppers had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $497.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $497.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Koppers’s payout ratio is 6.75%.

Insider Transactions at Koppers

In related news, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $37,807.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO James A. Sullivan sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $37,807.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,005,479.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $267,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 323,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,288,010.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,591 shares of company stock valued at $1,700,094 in the last quarter. 6.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KOP. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,180,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,448,000 after purchasing an additional 82,741 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Koppers by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,138,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,031,000 after acquiring an additional 73,151 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Koppers by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 472,831 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,086,000 after acquiring an additional 45,003 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Koppers by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 462,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,303,000 after acquiring an additional 104,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Koppers by 326.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 123,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,894,000 after purchasing an additional 94,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Koppers Company Profile

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 Railroad and Utility Products and Services (RUPS), Performance Chemicals (PC), and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (CMC) segments.