Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Short Interest Down 22.2% in January

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 42,260,000 shares, a decline of 22.2% from the December 31st total of 54,300,000 shares. Currently, 8.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Cleveland-Cliffs stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $10.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 381,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,289,058. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $8.99 and a twelve month high of $22.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.67 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.02). The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Glj Research raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.27 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,429,000 after buying an additional 134,939 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 58.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 187,957 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth about $18,999,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter worth $22,122,000. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

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.