Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Down 4.3% - Here's Why

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) dropped 4.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $7.01 and last traded at $6.97. Approximately 5,275,707 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 14,056,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLF has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Glj Research reduced their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.24.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.37 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.58 and a 200-day moving average of $10.81.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at $258,952.32. The trade was a 68.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 over the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.1% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,236,247 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company's stock worth $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 134,939 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $18,999,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $458,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,332 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $4,432,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.