Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading 3% Higher – Should You Buy?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price traded up 3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.64 and last traded at $9.57. 4,846,936 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 12,774,881 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on CLF shares. 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Glj Research lowered their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.27. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 1.94.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.70 per share, with a total value of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This trade represents a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,952.32. This trade represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 over the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Estabrook Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 130.0% during the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.