Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Down 2.5% – Here’s Why

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 3.2 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.51 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 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 firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP Keith Koci bought 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 543,475 shares in the company, valued at $5,874,964.75. This trade represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.56 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,453,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth about $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 4,239,000 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,893,879 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $330,665,000 after buying an additional 3,110,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $458,267,000 after buying an additional 2,556,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.