Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $8.49, but opened at $7.80. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $7.03, with a volume of 19,099,171 shares traded.

The mining company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by ($0.14). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CLF. Glj Research reduced their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.49.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,952.32. The trade was a 68.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095. Insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 232.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,113,337 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $39,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,837 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% in 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1,190.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,330 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 4,917 shares during the period. Finally, Matrix Trust Co raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 813.5% during the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 17,412 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 15,506 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 2.0 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 2.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.15.

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.