Cannell & Spears LLC Buys 651,250 Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF)

Cannell & Spears LLC grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) by 138.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,122,155 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 651,250 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in GrafTech International were worth $1,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its stake in GrafTech International by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 29,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in GrafTech International by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 76,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 51,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 18,130 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of GrafTech International by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 127,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 20,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 343,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 20,902 shares during the last quarter. 92.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at GrafTech International

In other news, CFO Rory F. O’donnell acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.04 per share, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,000. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

GrafTech International Stock Down 9.7 %

EAF opened at $0.86 on Tuesday. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 12 month low of $0.52 and a 12 month high of $2.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.54. The company has a market cap of $220.73 million, a P/E ratio of -1.68 and a beta of 0.92.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last announced 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 return on equity of 709.85% and a negative net margin of 24.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.27) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.57 EPS 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.