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

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment 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 analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1.75.

EAF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered GrafTech International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a 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 research note on Monday, July 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GrafTech International

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 287.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in GrafTech International in the fourth quarter valued at $1,843,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in GrafTech International in the fourth quarter valued at $1,684,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in GrafTech International by 60.8% in the second quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 868,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 328,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundation Resource Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 13.8% during the first quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 1,803,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,489,000 after purchasing an additional 218,418 shares during the last quarter. 92.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GrafTech International Price Performance

EAF opened at $1.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $416.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.49 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $0.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.20. GrafTech International has a 12-month low of $0.52 and a 12-month high of $3.89.

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

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.