Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Increases Position in GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,025 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in GrafTech International were worth $50,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in GrafTech International by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 148,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 30,102 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 475.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,458,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031,652 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 81.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,536,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,623,000 after acquiring an additional 2,029,350 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 385.5% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 175,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 139,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,053,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,671,000 after acquiring an additional 59,424 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EAF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of GrafTech International from $1.00 to $2.20 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of GrafTech International from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

GrafTech International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EAF opened at $1.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.42. GrafTech International Ltd. has a one year low of $0.52 and a one year high of $2.53. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $385.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 0.99.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The business had revenue of $130.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.43 EPS for the current year.

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.