Walleye Capital LLC Acquires 72,223 Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. $EAF

Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) by 77.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 165,280 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 72,223 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC’s holdings in GrafTech International were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GrafTech International by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,673,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,518,000 after purchasing an additional 546,177 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in GrafTech International by 132.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,782,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,699,000 after buying an additional 1,587,052 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in GrafTech International by 357.6% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,678,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after buying an additional 1,311,797 shares in the last quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. raised its holdings in GrafTech International by 169.2% during the second quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. now owns 1,286,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 808,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,122,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,413,000 after buying an additional 236,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EAF shares. Zacks Research downgraded GrafTech International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on GrafTech International from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of GrafTech International in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded GrafTech International from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of GrafTech International from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.67.

GrafTech International Price Performance

EAF stock opened at $7.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.06. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 52-week low of $4.92 and a 52-week high of $20.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.86 and a beta of 1.84.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported ($1.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.46) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $127.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.02 million. Equities analysts expect that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GrafTech International Company Profile

GrafTech International (NYSE: EAF) is a leading global manufacturer of graphite electrodes and other specialty graphite products used primarily in electric arc furnaces (EAFs) for steel production. The company’s core offerings include ultrahigh-power, high-power and regular power electrodes, along with related accessories such as graphite shapes and heterogeneous carbon materials. These products play a critical role in steelmaking by conducting the high electrical currents required to melt scrap steel efficiently and with reduced environmental impact compared to traditional blast furnace methods.

With a manufacturing footprint spanning North America, Europe and Asia, GrafTech serves steel producers and foundries worldwide.