Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Shares of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $41.16, but opened at $44.38. Koppers shares last traded at $44.36, with a volume of 32,228 shares.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.13. Koppers had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 2.98%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is 13.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other 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 directly owned 447,459 shares in the company, valued at $16,963,170.69. This trade represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koppers

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Koppers by 258.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Koppers by 95.6% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Koppers by 23.5% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,235 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Koppers during the fourth quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Koppers during the third quarter valued at $160,000. 92.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Koppers Stock Up 7.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.36. The firm has a market cap of $857.79 million, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.28.

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.