Cleveland-Cliffs Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 57,175 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 42,444 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 133,717 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 49,359 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 987.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 207,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 187,957 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.9% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 206,750 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,640,000 after acquiring an additional 45,150 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter valued at $22,122,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 232.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,113,337 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,837 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of CLF stock opened at $9.89 on Wednesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 12 month low of $9.62 and a 12 month high of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of -10.20 and a beta of 1.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.49 and a 200-day moving average of $13.45.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CLF. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.39.

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.