Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 24.8% to 710,835 shares as of March 31 (about 4.0% of shares sold short) with a days-to-cover ratio of 2.3.
• CEO M. Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares on March 17, a 0.55% reduction, though he still holds 447,459 shares; corporate insiders own 7.28% of the company.
• Koppers beat quarterly EPS ($0.70 vs. $0.59) despite a 9.3% revenue decline, set FY2026 guidance at 4.200–5.000 EPS, and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.09 (annualized $0.36, ~1.0% yield).

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 710,835 shares, a decline of 24.8% from the March 15th total of 945,738 shares. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 309,945 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koppers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Koppers in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in Koppers in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Koppers by 258.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Koppers by 95.6% in 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Koppers by 23.5% in 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. Institutional investors own 92.75% of the company's stock.

Koppers Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of KOP traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $37.57. 102,119 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 200,264. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Koppers has a 1-year low of $23.54 and a 1-year high of $39.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $726.66 million, a PE ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.30 and a 200-day moving average of $31.04.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $432.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.00 million. Koppers had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 2.98%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-5.000 EPS. Analysts expect that Koppers will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This is a boost from Koppers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on KOP shares. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Koppers from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised Koppers from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Koppers from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.50.

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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