AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF)

AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF – Get Rating) by 47.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 110,172 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98,743 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC’s holdings in GrafTech International were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EAF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 11.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 629,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,060,000 after purchasing an additional 63,036 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 855.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 7,267 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 63.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 104,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 40,816 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 4.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 213,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,053,000 after purchasing an additional 9,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 7.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,304,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,170,000 after purchasing an additional 152,298 shares in the last quarter. 88.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EAF. Citigroup increased their price objective on GrafTech International from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on GrafTech International from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 21st.

GrafTech International Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EAF opened at $5.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 12-month low of $4.07 and a 12-month high of $10.63. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.25.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $247.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $221.00 million. GrafTech International had a net margin of 29.89% and a return on equity of 161.67%. GrafTech International’s revenue was down 31.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

GrafTech International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 28th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 27th. GrafTech International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.72%.

GrafTech International Company Profile

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GrafTech International Ltd. engages in the manufacture of graphite electrode products essential to the production of electric arc furnace steel and other ferrous and non-ferrous metals. The firm also produces needle coke products which is a raw material to producing graphite electrodes. Its customers include steel producers and other ferrous and non-ferrous metal producers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, which sell its products into the automotive, construction, appliance, machinery, equipment and transportation industries.