Paloma Partners Management Co Takes Position in GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF)

Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 55,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in GrafTech International by 58.4% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 25,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 9,416 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 4.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in GrafTech International by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 81,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,271 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 12,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 195,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 59,013 shares during the last quarter. 92.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GrafTech International Trading Down 8.8 %

NYSE:EAF traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $0.74. 918,970 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,490,650. GrafTech International Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $0.69 and a fifty-two week 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 $190.69 million, a P/E ratio of -0.75 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.44.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.08. GrafTech International had a negative net margin of 50.11% and a negative return on equity of 94.99%. The firm had revenue of $136.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at GrafTech International

In related news, major shareholder Colonial House Capital Ltd bought 533,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.77 per share, with a total value of $943,425.93. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 30,247,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,538,717.51. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders purchased 1,143,207 shares of company stock worth $2,013,368 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on EAF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of GrafTech International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on GrafTech International from $1.20 to $1.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GrafTech International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1.75.

GrafTech International 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.