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

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shares traded down 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. 8,008,598 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 16,664,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.09.

CLF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Finally, Glj Research dropped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,952.32. The trade was a 68.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Keith Koci acquired 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, with a total value of $102,695.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 543,475 shares in the company, valued at $5,874,964.75. This represents a 1.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 299.8% during 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 bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% in the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.58 and a beta of 1.96.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal 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.