Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading 7.2% Higher - What's Next?

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) traded up 7.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $7.63 and last traded at $7.61. 11,830,125 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 17,306,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Glj Research lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating and set a $3.91 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.74.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $7.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.38. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.84 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. Cleveland-Cliffs's revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs 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 now owns 492,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,371,905.65. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.70 per share, with a total value of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This trade represents a 3.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the first quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,696,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 245,240 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 43,740 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 1st quarter valued at $794,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 520,716 shares of the mining company's stock worth $4,280,000 after purchasing an additional 17,993 shares during the period. 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.