Skylands Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. $KOP

Key Points

• Skylands Capital cut its Koppers stake by 73.9% in the first quarter, selling 59,700 shares and ending with 21,050 shares worth about $814,000.
• Koppers reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.57 versus $0.44 expected and revenue of $455.3 million versus $390.1 million forecast.
• CEO M. Leroy Ball sold 3,412 shares in June, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $52.50.

Skylands Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Free Report) by 73.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 59,700 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Koppers worth $814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Koppers by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,013,000 after buying an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Koppers by 3.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 1.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 107,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Koppers by 3.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 111,031 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of Koppers by 374.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 52,076 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 41,097 shares in the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Koppers

In other news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 3,412 shares of Koppers stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 436,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,151,067.70. The trade was a 0.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 7.28% of the company's stock.

Koppers Stock Performance

Shares of KOP opened at $45.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $865.47 million, a PE ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.79. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.00 and a 12-month high of $46.40.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $455.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $390.10 million. Koppers had a net margin of 4.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Koppers's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.800-4.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Koppers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Koppers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KOP. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Koppers from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Singular Research raised shares of Koppers to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Koppers from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.50.

Koppers 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.

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