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

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $20.85, but opened at $19.92. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $19.31, with a volume of 6,367,132 shares changing hands.

The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.81% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total transaction of $132,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 90,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688 in the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,585,000. Peconic Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,370,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $40,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,961 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,988,689 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $31,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,491 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,928,000. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 7.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.98.

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.