GrafTech International Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:EAF)

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 3,168 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,044% compared to the typical daily volume of 277 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GrafTech International news, Director Jean-Marc Germain acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $0.78 per share, for a total transaction of $39,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,200. The trade was a 125.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in GrafTech International by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 613,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 123,574 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in GrafTech International by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 181,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 18,944 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in GrafTech International by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 408,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 38,482 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in GrafTech International by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,827,000 after purchasing an additional 48,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in GrafTech International by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,380,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 743,805 shares during the period. 92.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GrafTech International Stock Performance

NYSE EAF opened at $1.29 on Tuesday. GrafTech International has a 52-week low of $0.52 and a 52-week high of $2.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.38, a current ratio of 4.55 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $0.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.21.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.02. GrafTech International had a negative return on equity of 709.85% and a negative net margin of 24.34%. The firm had revenue of $111.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.33 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that GrafTech International will post -0.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, UBS Group dropped their price objective on GrafTech International from $1.50 to $0.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, GrafTech International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1.63.

About GrafTech International

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.