Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Glj Research

Glj Research downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $3.91 price target on the mining company's stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CLF. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.74.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.85. 35,132,332 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,179,256. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $7.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.50. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.03 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $5.63 and a twelve month high of $17.41. 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 (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by ($0.14). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 492,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,371,905.65. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the mining company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings 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 worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.9% during the first 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 during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.