Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Up 1.7% – What’s Next?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shares shot up 1.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $7.48 and last traded at $7.49. 4,051,283 shares were traded 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

A number of research firms have recently commented on CLF. Glj Research cut their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Finally, B. Riley restated 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.02.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -7.67 and a beta of 2.03.

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 company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,874,964.75. This trade represents a 1.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.70 per share, with a total value 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095. Insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Estabrook Capital Management lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% during the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.