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

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading 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) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.18. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 17.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target 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, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $8.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Estabrook Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% during the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 36.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,216 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.20 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

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.