Koppers Holdings Insider Sold Shares Worth $344,700, According to a Recent SEC Filing

Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP logged profits (attributable to the company) of $22.8 million or $1.09 per share for the third quarter of 2024, down from a profit of $26.3 million or $1.22 per share a year ago. Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings were $1.37 per share for the quarter, up from $1.32 per share a year ago. It topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Koppers recorded revenues of $554.3 million for the quarter, up around 1% year over year. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $571.8 million. The Railroad and Utility Products and Services (“RUPS”) segment delivered record sales on higher pricing. KOP saw lower sales across Performance Chemicals (PC) and Carbon Materials and Chemicals (“CMC”) segments in the reported quarter.

Koppers Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Koppers Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Koppers Holdings Inc. Quote

KOP's Segment Highlights

Sales from the RUPS segment rose around 6% year over year to $248.1 million in the reported quarter. It was below the consensus estimate of $258.9 million. Sales were driven by increased pricing across several markets and increased activity in the railroad bridge services business, partly masked by reduced activity in the crosstie recovery business.

The PC segment recorded sales of $176.7 million in the quarter, down around 1.5% year over year. It was below the consensus estimate of $183.1 million. Sales were impacted as sales to Brown Wood now being affiliated sales.

Sales from the CMC division fell 5.5% year over year to $129.5 million. It missed the consensus estimate of $132.2 million. The downside was due to reduced sales prices across most products and lower volumes of carbon black feedstock.

Koppers' Financials

Koppers ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $44.5 million, down around 9% sequentially. Long-term debt was $975.9 million, down around 1% sequentially.

KOP's Outlook

Koppers anticipates sales for 2024 to be roughly $2.1 billion factoring in the current competitive landscape, global economic conditions and the prevailing uncertainty associated with geopolitical and supply chain challenges. It expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the band of $270-$275 million for the year, including the acquisition of Brown Wood, which was completed on April 1, 2024. Koppers sees adjusted earnings per share to be $4.25-$4.45 for 2024.

The company also expects capital expenditures of roughly $80 million for this year. It sees operating cash flows of around $100-$125 million in 2024, barring any impact from pension termination.

KOP Stock’s Price Performance

Koppers’ shares have lost 13.4% in the past year compared with the Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry’s 4.6% rise.

Shares of Koppers (KOP) have gained 3% over the past four weeks to close the last trading session at $38.03, but there could still be a solid upside left in the stock if short-term price targets of Wall Street analysts are any indication. Going by the price targets, the mean estimate of $64.67 indicates a potential upside of 70.1%.

The average comprises three short-term price targets ranging from a low of $64 to a high of $65, with a standard deviation of $0.58. While the lowest estimate indicates an increase of 68.3% from the current price level, the most optimistic estimate points to a 70.9% upside. More than the range, one should note the standard deviation here, as it helps understand the variability of the estimates. The smaller the standard deviation, the greater the agreement among analysts.

While the consensus price target is a much-coveted metric for investors, solely banking on this metric to make an investment decision may not be wise at all. That's because the ability and unbiasedness of analysts in setting price targets have long been questionable.

But, for KOP, an impressive average price target is not the only indicator of a potential upside. Strong agreement among analysts about the company's ability to report better earnings than they predicted earlier strengthens this view. While a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't gauge how much a stock could gain, it has proven to be powerful in predicting an upside.

Here's What You May Not Know About Analysts' Price Targets

According to researchers at several universities across the globe, a price target is one of many pieces of information about a stock that misleads investors far more often than it guides. In fact, empirical research shows that price targets set by several analysts, irrespective of the extent of agreement, rarely indicate where the price of a stock could actually be heading.

While Wall Street analysts have deep knowledge of a company's fundamentals and the sensitivity of its business to economic and industry issues, many of them tend to set overly optimistic price targets. Are you wondering why?

They usually do that to drum up interest in shares of companies that their firms either have existing business relationships with or are looking to be associated with. In other words, business incentives of firms covering a stock often result in inflated price targets set by analysts.

However, a tight clustering of price targets, which is represented by a low standard deviation, indicates that analysts have a high degree of agreement about the direction and magnitude of a stock's price movement. While that doesn't necessarily mean the stock will hit the average price target, it could be a good starting point for further research aimed at identifying the potential fundamental driving forces.

That said, while investors should not entirely ignore price targets, making an investment decision solely based on them could lead to disappointing ROI. So, price targets should always be treated with a high degree of skepticism.

Why KOP Could Witness a Solid Upside

There has been increasing optimism among analysts lately about the company's earnings prospects, as indicated by strong agreement among them in revising EPS estimates higher. And that could be a legitimate reason to expect an upside in the stock. After all, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For the current year, one estimate has moved higher over the last 30 days compared to no negative revision. As a result, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased 4.7%.

Moreover, KOP currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which means it is in the top 20% of more than the 4,000 stocks that we rank based on four factors related to earnings estimates. Given an impressive externally-audited track record, this is a more conclusive indication of the stock's potential upside in the near term. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here

Therefore, while the consensus price target may not be a reliable indicator of how much KOP could gain, the direction of price movement it implies does appear to be a good guide.

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