Colonial House Capital Ltd Purchases 533,009 Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) Stock

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) major shareholder Colonial House Capital Ltd acquired 533,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $1.77 per share, for a total transaction of $943,425.93. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 30,247,863 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,538,717.51. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Colonial House Capital Ltd also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 6th, Colonial House Capital Ltd bought 163,250 shares of GrafTech International stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.81 per share, for a total transaction of $295,482.50.
• On Friday, April 26th, Colonial House Capital Ltd acquired 179,279 shares of GrafTech International stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1.48 per share, with a total value of $265,332.92.
• On Tuesday, April 16th, Colonial House Capital Ltd bought 2,303,599 shares of GrafTech International stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1.78 per share, for a total transaction of $4,100,406.22.

GrafTech International Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EAF opened at $1.78 on Wednesday. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 52 week low of $1.18 and a 52 week high of $5.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 24.74, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.73. The company has a market cap of $456.48 million, a PE ratio of -1.63 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.94.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $136.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.73 million. GrafTech International had a negative return on equity of 66.36% and a negative net margin of 45.08%. GrafTech International’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GrafTech International

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 1,425.0% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 4,422,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,686,000 after purchasing an additional 4,132,961 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,425,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,948,000 after buying an additional 591,574 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 22,971,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,981,000 after buying an additional 2,618,477 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of GrafTech International during the 4th quarter valued at $1,954,000. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 1,559,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,416,000 after acquiring an additional 25,169 shares during the last quarter. 92.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EAF. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of GrafTech International from $4.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on GrafTech International from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group initiated coverage on GrafTech International in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $2.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on GrafTech International from $3.00 to $2.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1.88.

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.