Koppers (NYSE:KOP) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Koppers gapped up premarket, opening at $40.47 versus the prior close of $38.65 and last trading around $40.71 on a reported volume of 15,018 shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but positive overall — two Buy and two Hold ratings yield a MarketBeat consensus of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $52.50.
• Recent quarter: Koppers beat EPS expectations ($0.70 vs. $0.59) but missed revenue ($432.7M vs. $445M, down 9.3% YoY), and issued FY 2026 guidance of $4.20–$5.00 EPS (analysts average ~4.2 EPS).

Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $38.65, but opened at $40.47. Koppers shares last traded at $40.7050, with a volume of 15,018 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Koppers Trading Up 1.6%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $37.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $791.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.30.

Koppers (NYSE:KOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. Koppers had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 2.98%.The business had revenue of $432.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Koppers has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.200-5.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Koppers Holdings Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Koppers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Koppers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Koppers's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Insider Activity at Koppers

In other Koppers news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 2,489 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 447,459 shares in the company, valued at $16,963,170.69. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 7.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koppers

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KOP. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Koppers by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,209,376 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $46,779,000 after acquiring an additional 5,124 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Koppers during the 1st quarter valued at about $348,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Koppers during the 1st quarter valued at about $337,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Koppers during the 1st quarter valued at about $164,000. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of Koppers by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 15,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 4,123 shares during the last quarter. 92.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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