Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Up 9.4% - What's Next?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 9.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.84 and last traded at $9.69. 18,677,909 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 19,337,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Glj Research downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating and set a $3.91 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.23.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of -4.00 and a beta of 1.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 12.84% and a negative net margin of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 492,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,371,905.65. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Estabrook Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% during the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AllSquare Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.