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

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s share price gapped down before the market opened 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.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $3,778,275.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at $54,494,606.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at $117,585,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,037,507 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $82,446,000 after buying an additional 334,739 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,542,004 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $72,328,000 after acquiring an additional 194,948 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,735,603 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,757,000 after acquiring an additional 236,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $40,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,961 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.98 and a 200 day moving average of $18.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03.

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.