Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading Up 7.4% - Still a Buy?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 7.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $9.65 and last traded at $9.68. 8,827,248 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 17,959,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average is $10.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of -9.95 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.70 per share, with a total value of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 133,227 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,159,074.90. The trade was a 3.10 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,874,964.75. This represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,453,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% in the fourth 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,893,879 shares of the mining company's stock worth $330,665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock worth $458,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.