Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading Down 8.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) dropped 8.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $15.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cleveland-Cliffs traded as low as $9.22 and last traded at $9.20. Approximately 8,008,598 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 16,664,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.09.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Glj Research dropped their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jane M. Cronin bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,952.32. The trade was a 68.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $102,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,874,964.75. This trade represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 96,956 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,723 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 13,270 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.78 and a beta of 1.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.61.

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

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.