Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 519,485 Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Free Report) by 32.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,086,704 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 519,485 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of Cleveland-Cliffs worth $13,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $3,429,000 after acquiring an additional 134,939 shares in the last quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 58.5% during the third quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 133,717 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 49,359 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 987.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 207,000 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,644,000 after purchasing an additional 187,957 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $22,122,000. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 206,750 shares of the mining company's stock worth $2,640,000 after buying an additional 45,150 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CLF. StockNews.com cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.22.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

NYSE CLF traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $9.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,425,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,806,587. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.13 and a 52 week high of $22.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $11.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.05.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.02). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue was down 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs 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.