Benefit Street Partners LLC Purchases New Position in GrafTech International Ltd. $EAF

Benefit Street Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE:EAF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 713,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,060,000. GrafTech International accounts for 12.2% of Benefit Street Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Benefit Street Partners LLC owned about 2.76% of GrafTech International at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EAF. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 3rd quarter worth $192,000. Prelude Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 3rd quarter worth $192,000. Caption Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 3rd quarter worth $192,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 3rd quarter worth $377,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of GrafTech International in the 3rd quarter worth $508,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

GrafTech International Stock Performance

Shares of EAF stock opened at $7.36 on Thursday. GrafTech International Ltd. has a 52-week low of $4.92 and a 52-week high of $20.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.29 million, a PE ratio of -0.87 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.74.

GrafTech International (NYSE:EAF) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $116.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that GrafTech International Ltd. will post -0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on EAF. Wall Street Zen lowered GrafTech International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on GrafTech International from $21.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of GrafTech International in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

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.