Bank of America Corp DE Increases Holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. $KOP

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its Koppers stake by 27% in the first quarter to 128,948 shares, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.75% of the company.
• Koppers exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.37 in EPS versus the $1.12 consensus and $520.1 million in revenue, up 3% year over year. Management issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $3.80–$4.20.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with a consensus price target of $55, though insiders sold 97,220 shares worth about $4.8 million over the past 90 days. Koppers also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share.

Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 27.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 27,433 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.67% of Koppers worth $4,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KOP. Simcoe Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Koppers during the fourth quarter worth $22,032,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Koppers during the 1st quarter worth $6,269,000. Seizert Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Koppers by 209.4% during the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 112,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,044,000 after purchasing an additional 76,068 shares during the period. JB Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Koppers during the 4th quarter worth about $1,896,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Koppers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,730,000. 92.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 3,412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total transaction of $149,786.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 436,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,151,067.70. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider James A. Sullivan sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.01, for a total value of $4,000,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 90,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,520,803.98. The trade was a 46.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 97,220 shares of company stock worth $4,823,398 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.28% of the company's stock.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of KOP stock opened at $46.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $876.02 million, a P/E ratio of -9.81, a PEG ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.00 and a 12 month high of $53.00.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.25. Koppers had a negative net margin of 4.59% and a positive return on equity of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $520.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $506.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-4.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Koppers's payout ratio is currently -7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KOP. Weiss Ratings lowered Koppers from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Koppers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Singular Research upgraded Koppers to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.00.

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.

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