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

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Investors bought 69,555 call options on CLF (about a 72% increase versus the average volume of 40,512) in a single trading session.
• Significant insider selling: COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares at $10.46 and CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares at $12.42, leaving insiders with roughly 1.71% ownership.
• Institutional backing and mixed fundamentals: Institutions/hedge funds own about 67.68% of CLF with big stake increases from firms like Castle Hook and Vanguard, while analysts average a "Hold" rating (consensus target $12.99) and the company recently beat EPS estimates (-$0.43 vs. -$0.62) but missed revenue expectations.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 69,555 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 72% compared to the average volume of 40,512 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total value of $2,092,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at $5,863,133.34. This represents a 26.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $37,260,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company's stock worth $240,143,000 after acquiring an additional 15,393,507 shares in the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $63,731,000. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,280,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company's stock worth $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,450,442 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $208,623,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,807 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp began coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Glj Research reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $9.42 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Cleveland-Cliffs from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Argus upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.99.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $9.22. 11,054,541 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,351,430. The company has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of -3.16 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.93. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $5.63 and a one year high of $16.70.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The mining company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.19. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 18.94% and a negative net margin of 7.91%.The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.68) earnings per share. Cleveland-Cliffs's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company's integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.

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