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7/02/2013

Founded in 1886 and One of the Most Shorted Stocks on the Russell 3,000



Shorts may be over reaching with shares of GTI (GrafTech International Ltd). 40.70% of the shares are short as a percentage of the float.  GTI, GrafTech International Ltd  offers graphite solutions on the most complex applications for over 125 years.
It’s far from perfect. There is enough value and potential catalysts to justify a closer look as it’s down 26.47% over the prior 52 weeks versus the SP up 18.67% over the same period.

For tonight I would like to begin listing some of the positives based on the current price of $7.01.

GTI has aggressively reduced share count over the past 4 quarters at what seems like advantageous prices. On 03/31/2012 the share count was 144,499,000. This balance was reduced to 134,833,000 for the most recently reported period, 03/31/13. That represents an 8.30% reduction in the float based on current float share count of 116,890,000.The share price during this period were at lows not seen since the 2008/2009 financial crisis.

Positive 2013 insider purchases were reported March 14,2013. Craig Shular company officer purchased 40,000 shares for 292,800 or $7.32 per share.  Lindon Robertson also purchased 14,000 shares for 101,780 or 7.27 per share. 
GTI trades at historical low valuations using P/B or P/S.  Top line growth was positive with YOY revenue growth at 5%. Book value per share is 10.04. The stock price is currently trading at a 44% discount to book value. I don’t want to over emphasize this point but GTI owns about 16 properties in the USA and throughout the world. So given the company was founded in 1886 it would be safe to say some of those properties are on the books for far less than fair market value.
As one of the most shorted stocks this could be a positive as these shares must be bought back and any good news could create a positive selling event for longs.
Several firms follow the stock. They have a bearish views. So contrarians may consider this a positive as their current financial position can support obligations.

To be fair there are many negatives:

gross margins have been in a long decline along with the industry
assets have been growing faster than revenues.
total debt continues to climb over the past 3 years
aggressive accrual accounting as supported by earnings lagging behind cash flow

Even with all the negatives GTI may be worth a closer look.  


Market Cap :  946.15M , Enterprise Value :   1.54B
Price/Sales: 0.76 , Price/Book:       0.71
Enterprise Value/Revenue : 1.22 , Enterprise Value/EBITDA : 6.60

Revenue (ttm):  1.26B
Revenue Per Share (ttm):        9.25
Qtrly Revenue Growth (yoy):     5.30%
Gross Profit (ttm):     315.80M
EBITDA (ttm):  232.75M

Balance Sheet
Total Cash:       11.30M
Total Cash Per Share (mrq):     0.08
Total Debt (mrq):       566.65M
Total Debt/Equity (mrq):        41.86
Current Ratio (mrq):    4.05
Book Value Per Share (mrq):     10.04
52-Week Change:        -27.40%
S&P500 52-Week Change: 18.12%
52-Week High (Aug 8, 2012):    11.47
52-Week Low (Mar 6, 2013):     6.41

% Held by Insiders1:    12.77%
% Held by Institutions1:        93.80%

Short % of Float (as of Jun 14, 2013)3: 40.70%