Rory F. O’donnell Acquires 50,000 Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) Stock

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) CFO Rory F. O’donnell purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.04 per share, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $104,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

GrafTech International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EAF opened at $1.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 3.79. The firm has a market cap of $294.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.98 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.44. GrafTech International Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $0.52 and a fifty-two week high of $2.53.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.01. GrafTech International had a negative net margin of 55.21% and a negative return on equity of 459.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EAF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on GrafTech International from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $2.00 price objective on shares of GrafTech International in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of GrafTech International from $1.00 to $2.20 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of GrafTech International from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GrafTech International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,827,000 after acquiring an additional 48,038 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,672,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,084,000 after purchasing an additional 136,644 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,461,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,719,000 after purchasing an additional 93,722 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of GrafTech International by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,751,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,760,000 after purchasing an additional 42,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 475.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,458,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031,652 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.