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

Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.25.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GrafTech International in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on GrafTech International from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GrafTech International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st.

Institutional Trading of GrafTech International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in GrafTech International by 42.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 27,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 8,188 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in GrafTech International by 17.0% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 95,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 13,901 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Prelude Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in GrafTech International during the third quarter worth $192,000. Finally, Caption Management LLC bought a new position in GrafTech International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $192,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

GrafTech International Price Performance

NYSE:EAF opened at $16.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $431.71 million, a P/E ratio of -2.12 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.11. GrafTech International has a 1-year low of $5.50 and a 1-year high of $20.32.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 24th. The company reported ($1.03) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $144.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $139.58 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that GrafTech International will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

GrafTech International Company Profile

GrafTech International (NYSE: EAF) is a leading global manufacturer of graphite electrodes and other specialty graphite products used primarily in electric arc furnaces (EAFs) for steel production. The company’s core offerings include ultrahigh-power, high-power and regular power electrodes, along with related accessories such as graphite shapes and heterogeneous carbon materials. These products play a critical role in steelmaking by conducting the high electrical currents required to melt scrap steel efficiently and with reduced environmental impact compared to traditional blast furnace methods.

With a manufacturing footprint spanning North America, Europe and Asia, GrafTech serves steel producers and foundries worldwide.