Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading Up 3% – Here’s What Happened

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shares rose 3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.64 and last traded at $9.57. Approximately 4,846,936 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 12,774,881 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.64 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, EVP Keith Koci acquired 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $102,695.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,874,964.75. This trade represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at $258,952.32. This represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Estabrook Capital Management increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.