Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Short Interest Up 11.9% in May

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,440,000 shares, an increase of 11.9% from the April 30th total of 29,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 7.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of CLF stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,145,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,858,438. The company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.30 and a 200-day moving average of $19.25. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52 week low of $13.61 and a 52 week high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. Cleveland-Cliffs's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $553,811.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 87,000 shares of company stock worth $1,470,640 and sold 221,066 shares worth $4,464,688. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at about $117,585,000. Peconic Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,370,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $40,181,000 after buying an additional 1,568,961 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,988,689 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $31,083,000 after buying an additional 1,404,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,928,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. BNP Paribas lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $16.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, B. Riley decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.64.

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.