Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading 8.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price rose 8.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $11.62 and last traded at $11.62. 2,716,603 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 19,257,662 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CLF. Glj Research upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $15.01 to $15.60 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.86.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 8.5%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.77. The company has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.19 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The mining company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.01. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a negative return on equity of 13.37%. The business had revenue of $5.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.50) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. sold 214,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total value of $2,873,870.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 184,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,474,708.22. This trade represents a 53.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the second quarter valued at $522,766,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,278,156 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $388,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632,150 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $240,143,000 after buying an additional 15,393,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,207 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $130,873,000 after buying an additional 925,031 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.