Koppers Holdings surges after UBS upgrade

Koppers shares surged $4.99, or 11.6 percent, to $48.12. The stock has ranged from $26.41 to $51.95 over the past year.

In a note to investors, Chris L. Shaw and Gregg A. Goodnight wrote several of the company's wood treatment chemicals are priced off of oil, they said, leading to higher near-term earnings since the company itself does not use oil as a raw material.

In addition, higher oil and fuel prices should drive freight traffic away from trucking and toward railroads, they said, which are a primary source of revenue for the company.

They also said shares are also priced at a discount, having fallen 14 percent since the company reported its first-quarter profit last month.

"We still like the long-term story at Koppers and at current levels find it attractive," they wrote.

The analysts raised their share price target by $2 to $51, implying an 18 percent gain from Tuesday's close of $43.13.