Cleveland-Cliffs Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 76,612 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 94% compared to the average volume of 39,592 call options.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $11.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.03 and a beta of 1.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $12.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $10.21 and a one year high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.02). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CLF. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $12.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,222,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth about $1,444,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.9% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 206,750 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,640,000 after purchasing an additional 45,150 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 19.9% in the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 127,669 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 21,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 11.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,574 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.