Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Short Interest Up 22.9% in December

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 54,300,000 shares, a growth of 22.9% from the November 30th total of 44,170,000 shares. Approximately 11.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 13,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.22.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CLF traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.40. 11,833,041 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,829,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 12-month low of $8.99 and a 12-month high of $22.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of -9.69 and a beta of 1.93.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 10.6% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 177,043 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 17,004 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.0% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 147,207 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 69,730 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the second quarter worth $189,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 15.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 287,849 shares of the mining company's stock worth $4,430,000 after buying an additional 38,265 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 144.5% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 51,857 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 30,651 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company's stock.

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.