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

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1.75.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EAF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of GrafTech International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on GrafTech International from $1.20 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th.

GrafTech International Stock Performance

EAF stock opened at $1.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $0.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.21. GrafTech International has a 12-month low of $0.52 and a 12-month high of $3.89. The firm has a market cap of $290.60 million, a P/E ratio of -1.04 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.06. GrafTech International had a negative net margin of 50.11% and a negative return on equity of 121.77%. The firm had revenue of $137.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.48 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that GrafTech International will post -0.43 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of GrafTech International

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EAF. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 287.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,065,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,914,000 after buying an additional 3,759,449 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in GrafTech International by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,511,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,225,000 after acquiring an additional 12,648 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 1,849,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 45,859 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 1,808,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 157,776 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 89.4% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,456,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 687,595 shares in the last quarter. 92.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.