Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.48, but opened at $10.09. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $10.28, with a volume of 7,353,381 shares trading hands.

The mining company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.68) by $0.18. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 17.45%. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, July 14th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total transaction of $822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 492,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,371,905.65. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,453,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company's stock worth $152,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239,000 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 1st quarter worth $22,696,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock worth $458,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,332 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $7.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.80. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 1.91.

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.