Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,526,995 Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. by 90.6%, holding approximately $2.14 million worth of shares after selling 2.5 million shares in the first quarter.
• Notable insider trading occurred when EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares at $6.85, resulting in a 19.60% decrease in his position.
• Analysts have varied outlooks for Cleveland-Cliffs, with ratings ranging from "strong sell" to "buy," and an average target price set at $11.09, signaling a cautious sentiment in the market.

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Free Report) by 90.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,875 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 2,526,995 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.05% of Cleveland-Cliffs worth $2,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 96,956 shares of the mining company's stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.9% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 135,600 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 28,357 shares of the mining company's stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 56,665 shares of the mining company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.1% in the first quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 49,400 shares of the mining company's stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 492,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,371,905.65. This trade represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $8.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of 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 lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating and set a $3.91 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.09.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.31. The company had a trading volume of 8,637,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,828,176. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $14.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.86.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The mining company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.18. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 17.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

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.