Glj Research Downgrades Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) to Strong Sell

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 reports. The firm currently has $3.91 price target on the mining company's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.74.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE CLF traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.85. The company had a trading volume of 35,132,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,155,549. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of -6.03 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $5.64 and a 1-year high of $17.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $7.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.52.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The firm's revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total transaction of $822,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 133,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. The trade was a 3.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock worth $458,267,000 after buying an additional 2,556,332 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,247,426 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $199,724,000 after acquiring an additional 647,282 shares during the period. Slate Path Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company's stock worth $152,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,466,747 shares of the mining company's stock worth $79,611,000 after acquiring an additional 264,078 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,382,769 shares of the mining company's stock worth $69,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,247 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

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.