Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Given New $8.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $7.50 to $8.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the mining company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 12.12% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Glj Research downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating and set a $3.91 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLF traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $7.14. The company had a trading volume of 17,773,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,233,909. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -2.93 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $16.47.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.78) by ($0.14). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 12.84% and a negative net margin of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total transaction of $822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 492,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,371,905.65. This trade represents a 19.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 109.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 52,019 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 27,127 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,366,077 shares of the mining company's stock worth $12,841,000 after purchasing an additional 45,522 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth $442,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 31,365 shares of the mining company's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 190,235 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 7,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

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.

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