Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Up 5.1% - Here's What Happened

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.88 and a beta of 2.03. The business's fifty day moving average is $8.56 and its 200 day moving average is $10.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Jane M. Cronin bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,952.32. This represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,874,964.75. This represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,453,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $152,355,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $458,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 168.8% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,555,383 shares of the mining company's stock worth $29,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,232,799 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.