Cleveland-Cliffs Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 75,548 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 39% compared to the average daily volume of 54,372 call options.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

NYSE CLF traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.38. 53,045,636 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,722,536. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.58 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 has a 1-year low of $6.05 and a 1-year high of $17.41. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $7.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.65.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The firm's revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CLF shares. 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.02.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director John T. Baldwin bought 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total value of $822,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 492,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,371,905.65. This trade represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095. Insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 96,956 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 24.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,723 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 135,600 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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