Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading 4.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) was up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $7.25 and last traded at $7.21. Approximately 8,826,025 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 18,343,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CLF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Glj Research lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $3.91 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of -2.90 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $7.40 and a 200-day moving average of $8.96.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by ($0.14). The firm 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 12.84% and a negative net margin of 6.35%. The business’s revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total transaction of $822,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 492,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,371,905.65. This trade represents a 19.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,453,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $152,355,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239,000 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 1st quarter valued at about $22,696,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $458,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,332 shares during the period. 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.