Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Up 5.1% - Here's Why

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) shares rose 5.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $8.90 and last traded at $8.88. Approximately 4,868,761 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 19,435,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CLF shares. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Glj Research cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $15.49.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 16.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.34 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business's 50-day moving average price is $8.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.24.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jane M. Cronin bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at $258,952.32. This trade represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Baldwin bought 4,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.70 per share, with a total value of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 133,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Slate Path Capital LP increased its holdings 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 worth $152,355,000 after buying an additional 4,239,000 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,382,769 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $69,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,247 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $3,429,000 after acquiring an additional 134,939 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,999,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $458,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,332 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.