GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) has been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1.75.

EAF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of GrafTech International from $1.20 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of GrafTech International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GrafTech International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EAF. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised 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 purchasing an additional 9,416 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 34,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 14,243 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in GrafTech International in the 1st quarter valued at $76,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in GrafTech International by 11.3% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 81,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 8,271 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in GrafTech International by 179.6% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 135,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 87,027 shares in the last quarter. 92.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GrafTech International Stock Up 0.7 %

EAF stock opened at $1.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.35 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $0.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.20. GrafTech International has a 52-week low of $0.52 and a 52-week high of $3.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 2.01.

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