Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.53, but opened at $9.12. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $9.24, with a volume of 3,937,984 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Glj Research decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.32. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 1.94.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at $258,952.32. This represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Keith Koci bought 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $102,695.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,874,964.75. This represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 over the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Estabrook Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. 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.