Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Citigroup from $12.50 to $11.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the mining company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.57% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.22.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF traded down $0.34 on Thursday, hitting $9.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,927,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,614,873. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.48 and a beta of 1.92. 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 has a 12 month low of $9.13 and a 12 month high of $22.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.37.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised 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 purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 231.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,634 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 2,539 shares during the period. 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.