Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 76,468 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 86% compared to the typical daily volume of 41,201 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,273,000. AXQ Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 54,277 shares of the mining company's stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 7,246 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 135.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,615,774 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $33,988,000 after buying an additional 2,079,589 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,587,000. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the mining company's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Glj Research raised Cleveland-Cliffs from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $14.27 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on 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, StockNews.com downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.68.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

CLF stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,251,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,578,303. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.72 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 12 month low of $8.99 and a 12 month high of $22.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.89.

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.