Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Down 8.6% - Time to Sell?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 8.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $7.07 and last traded at $7.27. Approximately 7,023,895 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 13,992,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Glj Research cut their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $16.24.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 0.9 %

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The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $9.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.57 and a beta of 1.93. 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 (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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In related news, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,952.32. This represents a 68.86 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Keith Koci bought 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $102,695.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,874,964.75. The trade was a 1.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock worth $458,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,332 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 21,247,426 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $199,724,000 after purchasing an additional 647,282 shares during the last quarter. Slate Path Capital LP increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company's stock worth $152,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239,000 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,466,747 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $79,611,000 after buying an additional 264,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,382,769 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $69,398,000 after buying an additional 1,236,247 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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