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

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.18. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 6.35% and a negative return on equity of 12.84%. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CLF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $8.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total value of $822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 492,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,371,905.65. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,453,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $152,355,000 after buying an additional 4,239,000 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the first quarter valued at $22,696,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $458,267,000 after buying an additional 2,556,332 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -4.64 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.78.

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.