Graham (NYSE:GHM) Sets New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• 52-week high: Graham (NYSE: GHM) traded as high as $92.88 on Thursday, marking a new 12-month high with roughly 32,000 shares changing hands.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $81.67 (below the current price); Oppenheimer initiated coverage with an $100 target while others have both upgraded and cut ratings.
• Fundamentals: Graham reported an earnings beat of $0.31 vs. $0.17 expected and revenue of $56.7M, yet the stock trades at a high P/E of 69.22 on a $1.03B market cap, indicating elevated valuation.

Shares of Graham Corporation (NYSE:GHM - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $92.88 and last traded at $92.5240, with a volume of 32044 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $89.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GHM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Graham from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Graham from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Graham in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graham currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.67.

Graham Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.22 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's fifty day moving average is $81.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.01.

Graham (NYSE:GHM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.14. Graham had a net margin of 6.28% and a return on equity of 13.26%. The company had revenue of $56.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.36 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Graham Corporation will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graham

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GHM. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Graham in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Graham in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Graham by 62.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,063 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in Graham by 396.2% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,052 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Graham in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.46% of the company's stock.

Graham Company Profile

Graham Corporation NYSE: GHM is a U.S.-based industrial engineering company that designs, manufactures and services vacuum and heat transfer equipment. Its core offerings include liquid ring vacuum pumps, surface condensers, heat exchangers and custom-engineered vacuum systems. These products play a critical role in energy-intensive industries, where reliable removal of non-condensable gases and efficient heat exchange are vital to process performance.

The company's technologies find application across a range of end markets, including power generation, petrochemical, oil and gas, LNG, and semiconductor manufacturing.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.