Brokerages Set GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) PT at $1.75

Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1.75.

EAF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut GrafTech International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 Trading Up 6.1 %

Shares of NYSE EAF opened at $2.09 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.23. GrafTech International has a 52-week low of $0.52 and a 52-week high of $3.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 4.22. The company has a market cap of $537.49 million, a PE ratio of -1.87 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GrafTech International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EAF. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in GrafTech International by 396.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 104,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 83,209 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 123,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 13,203 shares during the period. Fore Capital LLC increased its position in shares of GrafTech International by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Fore Capital LLC now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 195,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 59,013 shares during the period. 92.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.