Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Short Interest Down 36.4% in December

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 808,495 shares, a decrease of 36.4% from the November 30th total of 1,271,306 shares. Approximately 4.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 131,313 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days. Based on an average daily volume of 131,313 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days. Approximately 4.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOP. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Koppers by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,248,032 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,124,000 after purchasing an additional 26,704 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Koppers by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,724,000 after purchasing an additional 139,600 shares during the period. Quaker Capital Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Koppers by 10.6% during the third quarter. Quaker Capital Investments LLC now owns 418,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,714,000 after purchasing an additional 40,166 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Koppers by 11.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 321,277 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,327,000 after buying an additional 34,188 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Koppers by 1.0% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 224,670 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,223,000 after buying an additional 2,286 shares during the period. 92.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KOP. Zacks Research raised shares of Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Koppers from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Koppers presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.50.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KOP opened at $26.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 2.63. Koppers has a one year low of $22.99 and a one year high of $35.61. The firm has a market cap of $528.69 million, a PE ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 1.40.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $485.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.50 million. Koppers had a net margin of 0.84% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Koppers has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.000-4.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Koppers will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

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.