Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Down 3.9% – What’s Next?

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) traded down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $9.12 and last traded at $9.17. 7,828,229 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 8,911,181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.22.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.79 and a beta of 1.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.02). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The company had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 7.2% during the third quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,900 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 7.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 13,066 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,428 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 40,408 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Finally, Sterneck Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sterneck Capital Management LLC now owns 19,512 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.