Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Reaches New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $42.41 and last traded at $41.5550, with a volume of 2960 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.61.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KOP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Koppers in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Koppers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Koppers from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Koppers from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Koppers has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.50.

Koppers Trading Up 6.7%

The company has a market cap of $849.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.02 and its 200 day moving average is $32.36.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $455.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $402.70 million. Koppers had a net margin of 2.98% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-4.600 EPS. Research analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Koppers News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Koppers this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Koppers reported first-quarter EPS of $0.57, beating estimates of $0.44, and revenue of $455.3 million also came in above expectations, signaling better-than-expected near-term performance. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per share, which can help support investor sentiment even though the yield is modest. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Koppers also updated FY2026 guidance to EPS of $3.80-$4.60 and revenue of $1.9 billion-$2.0 billion, which is roughly in line on sales but brackets analyst EPS expectations and may keep the market focused on execution.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced a conditional plan to discontinue operations at its Stickney, Illinois facility as part of a restructuring effort. Management says the move is intended to improve margins and cash flow, but it also reflects challenging market conditions and could involve costs and employee impacts. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: While guidance for revenue was broadly in line, the full-year EPS range suggests uncertainty around profitability, which may temper enthusiasm after the earnings beat.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.91, for a total transaction of $94,357.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 447,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,963,170.69. This trade represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KOP. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 17.1% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,724,000 after buying an additional 139,600 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Koppers in the third quarter worth about $3,635,000. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 47.7% in the third quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 71,665 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,007,000 after buying an additional 23,131 shares in the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Koppers by 209.4% in the fourth quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 112,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,044,000 after buying an additional 76,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Koppers in the third quarter worth about $914,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

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.