Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Down 1.7% – Here’s Why

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price traded down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $9.04 and last traded at $9.37. 5,557,580 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 12,622,716 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Glj Research lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.32. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.72 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, EVP Keith Koci acquired 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 543,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,874,964.75. This represents a 1.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This trade represents a 3.10 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 over the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 342.8% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 116,870 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after buying an additional 90,477 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,280 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 4,215 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 33,818 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 2,012 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 24,088 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 10,288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.