Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $828,000 Holdings in Koppers Holdings Inc. $KOP

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KOP) by 72.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,395 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 57,634 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Koppers were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KOP. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Koppers during the first quarter worth about $6,269,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Koppers by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 69,979 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 32,658 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Koppers by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 64,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Koppers by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,191,358 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,082,000 after acquiring an additional 17,833 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Koppers by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,694 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Koppers in a report on Monday, May 4th. Singular Research raised shares of Koppers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Koppers from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Koppers in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.50.

Koppers Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:KOP opened at $51.10 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $982.71 million, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 1.25. Koppers Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.00 and a twelve month high of $52.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Koppers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Friday, August 28th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Koppers’s payout ratio is currently 9.47%.

Insider Transactions at Koppers

In related news, CEO M Leroy Ball sold 3,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was 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 approximately $19,151,067.70. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.28% of the company’s stock.

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.