Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $13.11, but opened at $12.21. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $11.74, with a volume of 5,711,130 shares traded.

The mining company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.02). Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 4.94% and a net margin of 0.21%. The business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Cleveland-Cliffs's quarterly revenue was down 18.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLF has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $12.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 54.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,906,597 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $244,794,000 after buying an additional 5,621,797 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,093,632 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $93,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,597,662 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $86,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,907 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.8% during the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,374,716 shares of the mining company's stock worth $76,741,000 after purchasing an additional 410,182 shares during the period. Finally, Drexel Morgan & Co. increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.8% in the third quarter. Drexel Morgan & Co. now owns 3,200,395 shares of the mining company's stock worth $40,869,000 after purchasing an additional 116,400 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.97 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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.