Graham (NYSE:GHM) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Graham Corporation (NYSE:GHM) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $97.23 and last traded at $98.0150, with a volume of 8012 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $94.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Graham from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Graham from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Graham from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Graham in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Graham currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.67.

Graham Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.73. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 72.35 and a beta of 0.95.

Graham (NYSE:GHM) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $56.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.36 million. Graham had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 6.28%. As a group, analysts expect that Graham Corporation will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graham

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GHM. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graham in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of Graham in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Graham in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Institutional investors own 69.46% of the company’s stock.

About Graham

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.