Renaissance Technologies LLC Invests $823,000 in GrafTech International Ltd. $EAF

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 121,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.47% of GrafTech International as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Intesa Sanpaolo Wealth Management acquired a new stake in GrafTech International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 32,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 5,050 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in GrafTech International in the 4th quarter valued at $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of GrafTech International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of GrafTech International in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of GrafTech International from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of GrafTech International from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of GrafTech International from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.67.

GrafTech International Stock Performance

NYSE EAF opened at $7.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.02. The company has a market cap of $196.67 million, a P/E ratio of -1.11 and a beta of 1.83. GrafTech International Ltd. has a one year low of $4.92 and a one year high of $20.32.

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 firm had revenue of $127.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.02 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About GrafTech International

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.