Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading Down 2.5% – What’s Next?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price dropped 2.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $9.22 and last traded at $9.44. Approximately 7,277,178 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 12,567,335 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Glj Research lowered their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.51 and a beta of 1.94.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 342.8% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 116,870 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 90,477 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 4,215 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth $34,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.3% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 33,818 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 74.6% in the third 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. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.