Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 136,644 Shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,672,876 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,644 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.82% of GrafTech International worth $8,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in GrafTech International by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 29,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 76,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 51,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 18,130 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 127,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 20,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 343,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 20,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $2.00 target price on shares of GrafTech International in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of GrafTech International from $2.00 to $1.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th.

GrafTech International Trading Up 15.9 %

GrafTech International stock opened at $0.71 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.06 and a 200 day moving average of $1.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.39 and a beta of 1.15. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 12-month low of $0.52 and a 12-month high of $2.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.01. GrafTech International had a negative return on equity of 709.85% and a negative net margin of 24.34%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.27) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at GrafTech International

In other GrafTech International news, CFO Rory F. O’donnell bought 50,000 shares of GrafTech International stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1.04 per share, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,000. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.