Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) shares 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 changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CLF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. Glj Research reduced their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 3.1 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of -9.87 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.27.

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Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. Equities research analysts forecast 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 acquired 10,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,952.32. This represents a 68.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,874,964.75. This trade represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095. Insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock worth $458,267,000 after buying an additional 2,556,332 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,247,426 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $199,724,000 after purchasing an additional 647,282 shares in the last quarter. Slate Path Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company's stock worth $152,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239,000 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,466,747 shares of the mining company's stock worth $79,611,000 after buying an additional 264,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,382,769 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $69,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236,247 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.