GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1.88.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of GrafTech International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at GrafTech International

In other news, major shareholder Colonial House Capital Ltd acquired 332,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $1.72 per share, with a total value of $572,364.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 31,358,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,935,864.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders bought 1,322,486 shares of company stock worth $2,278,701 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 211.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 9,511 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in GrafTech International by 58.4% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 25,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 9,416 shares during the last quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in GrafTech International in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Welch Group LLC increased its position in GrafTech International by 71.2% during the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 34,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 14,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

GrafTech International Price Performance

NYSE:EAF opened at $0.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $238.71 million, a PE ratio of -0.85 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.48. GrafTech International has a 52 week low of $0.81 and a 52 week high of $5.32.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.08. GrafTech International had a negative return on equity of 66.36% and a negative net margin of 45.08%. The company had revenue of $136.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that GrafTech International will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GrafTech International Company Profile

GrafTech International Ltd. research, develops, manufactures, and sells graphite and carbon-based solutions worldwide. The company offers graphite electrodes to produce electric arc furnace steel and other ferrous and non-ferrous metals; and petroleum needle coke, a crystalline form of carbon used in the production of graphite electrodes and synthetic graphite.