Head-To-Head Comparison: GrafTech International (EAF) versus Its Competitors

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) is one of 218 public companies in the “Electrical Equipment” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare GrafTech International to similar companies based on the strength of its valuation, earnings, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for GrafTech International and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GrafTech International	2	4	0	0	1.67
GrafTech International Competitors	2312	5196	7247	440	2.38

GrafTech International currently has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential downside of 11.20%. As a group, “Electrical Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 44.49%. Given GrafTech International’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe GrafTech International has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.8% of GrafTech International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.4% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of GrafTech International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.9% of shares of all “Electrical Equipment” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares GrafTech International and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
GrafTech International	$504.13 million	-$219.84 million	-1.51
GrafTech International Competitors	$2.47 billion	$148.77 million	20.47

GrafTech International’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than GrafTech International. GrafTech International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

GrafTech International has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GrafTech International’s peers have a beta of -20.13, meaning that their average share price is 2,113% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GrafTech International and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GrafTech International	-38.43%	N/A	-18.39%
GrafTech International Competitors	-372.62%	-44.70%	-7.06%

Summary

GrafTech International peers beat GrafTech International on 8 of the 12 factors compared.

GrafTech International Company Profile

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) manufactures graphite electrodes and related products used primarily in electric arc furnace steelmaking. Its products conduct electricity and generate the intense heat required to melt steel scrap and other metallic materials, making them important consumables for steel producers. The company’s product portfolio includes ultra-high-power, high-power and regular-power graphite electrodes, as well as specialty graphite products for industrial applications. GrafTech also produces petroleum needle coke, a key raw material used in the manufacture of graphite electrodes.