Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Up 5.4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) traded up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.90 and last traded at $9.9050. Approximately 4,605,847 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 18,327,518 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays started coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Friday, April 24th. Argus raised Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $12.50 price target (up from $12.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.80.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.44 and a 200-day moving average of $11.22. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.18 and a beta of 2.13.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The mining company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 15.48% and a negative net margin of 6.42%.Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.92) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. sold 214,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total transaction of $2,873,870.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 184,542 shares in the company, valued at $2,474,708.22. This represents a 53.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the first quarter valued at $339,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 49,955 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 10,733 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 143,264 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 6,073 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 22,167 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 7,127 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,081,241 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $23,417,000 after purchasing an additional 520,120 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.