Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading Down 1% – Here’s Why

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) fell 1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $9.30 and last traded at $9.47. 3,212,665 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 12,574,186 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CLF. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup cut their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Glj Research decreased their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.94.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Analysts anticipate 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 Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP Keith Koci acquired 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.81 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 1.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at $258,952.32. This trade represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,453,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $152,355,000 after buying an additional 4,239,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $458,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 232.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,113,337 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,837 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

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.