The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $13.00 to $11.25 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the mining company’s stock.

CLF has been the subject of several other reports. 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.02.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 7.1%

CLF stock opened at $7.50 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.73 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $6.17 and a twelve month high of $18.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.07.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $105,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 24,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,952.32. The trade was a 68.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 in the last 90 days. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 232.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,113,337 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $39,757,000 after buying an additional 2,176,837 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 134,939 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 1,190.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,330 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 4,917 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 813.5% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 17,412 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 15,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth about $137,000. 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.