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

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) gapped down prior to trading 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.38 and its 200 day moving average is $11.29. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.94.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jane M. Cronin bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 24,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,952.32. The trade was a 68.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 133,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Estabrook Capital Management lifted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 130.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 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.