Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Reduces Stock Position in GrafTech International Ltd. $EAF

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lessened its stake in GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) by 96.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 189,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,838,294 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in GrafTech International were worth $2,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAF. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in GrafTech International by 5,083.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 635,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 623,399 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 2nd quarter worth $117,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GrafTech International by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,131,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594,562 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of GrafTech International during the 2nd quarter worth $182,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of GrafTech International by 132.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,782,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,587,052 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of GrafTech International from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of GrafTech International from $21.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of GrafTech International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GrafTech International in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

GrafTech International Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of GrafTech International stock opened at $5.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $145.50 million, a PE ratio of -0.66 and a beta of 1.69. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 52 week low of $4.92 and a 52 week high of $20.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.33.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($2.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($1.18). The company had revenue of $116.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.00 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

GrafTech International 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.