Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CLF. Citigroup reduced their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.56.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 3.6 %

NYSE CLF opened at $12.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of -13.26 and a beta of 1.97. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $10.21 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.72 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 299.8% during the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 138.8% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.