Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Down 1.2% - Should You Sell?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 1.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $7.28 and last traded at $7.24. Approximately 10,321,093 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 18,205,376 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CLF. Glj Research downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating and set a $3.91 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.84 and a beta of 1.85.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.78) by ($0.14). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 6.35% and a negative return on equity of 12.84%. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 492,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,371,905.65. This trade represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,366,077 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $12,841,000 after acquiring an additional 45,522 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 190,235 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 7,168 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114,888 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $10,480,000 after purchasing an additional 28,184 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 117,260 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 20,911 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

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.