Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Up 7.4% – What’s Next?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shares rose 7.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $9.65 and last traded at $9.68. Approximately 8,827,248 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 17,959,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CLF. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Glj Research lowered their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 0.6 %

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 has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of -10.04 and a beta of 1.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.45.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John T. Baldwin bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This trade represents a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at $258,952.32. This represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 in the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 299.8% in the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.