Colonial House Capital Ltd Buys 2,303,599 Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) Stock

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) major shareholder Colonial House Capital Ltd acquired 2,303,599 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.78 per share, with a total value of $4,100,406.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,535,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,573,323.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

GrafTech International Price Performance

GrafTech International stock opened at $1.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $381.88 million, a PE ratio of -1.49 and a beta of 1.14. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 52-week low of $1.18 and a 52-week high of $5.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.13.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $137.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.20 million. GrafTech International had a negative return on equity of 39.57% and a negative net margin of 41.14%. GrafTech International’s quarterly revenue was down 44.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GrafTech International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 11,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 25,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 2,690 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 79,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 92.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EAF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of GrafTech International from $4.00 to $2.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of GrafTech International in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $2.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of GrafTech International from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1.88.

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.