Analysts Set GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) Target Price at $1.88

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1.88.

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

Insider Transactions at GrafTech International

In other news, major shareholder Colonial House Capital Ltd bought 533,009 shares of GrafTech International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1.77 per share, with a total value of $943,425.93. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 30,247,863 shares in the company, valued at $53,538,717.51. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,322,486 shares of company stock valued at $2,278,701. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GrafTech International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 182,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 8,216 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 11.3% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 81,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 8,271 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 58.4% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 25,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 9,416 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 9,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

GrafTech International Stock Performance

GrafTech International stock opened at $0.93 on Tuesday. GrafTech International has a 1-year low of $0.81 and a 1-year high of $5.32. The company has a current ratio of 3.73, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.71 million, a PE ratio of -0.85 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.48.

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

About GrafTech International

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.