Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading 1.7% Higher – Time to Buy?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price traded up 1.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $7.48 and last traded at $7.49. 4,051,283 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 15,187,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CLF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Glj Research decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.02.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 2.3%

The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.67 and a beta of 2.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $8.12 and its 200 day moving average is $9.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs 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 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 over the last ninety days. 1.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the first quarter worth about $22,696,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 21.7% in the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 245,240 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 43,740 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the first quarter valued at approximately $794,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 520,716 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,280,000 after purchasing an additional 17,993 shares during the period. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.8% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 1,180,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $9,700,000 after buying an additional 105,000 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.