Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading Up 2.7% - Still a Buy?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $8.37 and last traded at $8.12. Approximately 4,368,793 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 14,271,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 5.0 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.64 and a 200 day moving average of $10.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of -9.14 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. The trade was a 3.10 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,952.32. This trade represents a 68.86 % 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 three months. Insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,247,426 shares of the mining company's stock worth $199,724,000 after buying an additional 647,282 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP lifted its stake 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 worth $152,355,000 after acquiring an additional 4,239,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,466,747 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $79,611,000 after acquiring an additional 264,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,236,247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

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.