Barrington Research Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Koppers (NYSE:KOP)

Barrington Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Koppers (NYSE:KOP) in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $64.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Separately, Singular Research raised shares of Koppers from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $67.50 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Koppers Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Koppers stock traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 125,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,351. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.83 and a 200 day moving average of $48.85. The company has a market capitalization of $909.13 million, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.86. Koppers has a 1-year low of $28.45 and a 1-year high of $58.23.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $497.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $497.00 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 3.59%. Koppers’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Koppers will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Koppers’s dividend payout ratio is 7.89%.

Insider Activity

In other Koppers news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $267,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 323,080 shares in the company, valued at $17,288,010.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Leslie S. Hyde sold 22,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.91, for a total value of $1,207,745.73. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,658 shares in the company, valued at $3,000,522.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.51, for a total value of $267,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 323,080 shares in the company, valued at $17,288,010.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,591 shares of company stock worth $1,700,094 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Koppers

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KOP. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Koppers by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 18,224 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Koppers by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 15,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Koppers by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 45,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Koppers by 7.7% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

About Koppers

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.