Clifford Smith Sells 200,000 Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) COO Clifford Smith sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total transaction of $2,092,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,863,133.34. The trade was a 26.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $10.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $13.18 and its 200 day moving average is $12.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 1.93. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.63 and a 1 year high of $16.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The mining company reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 7.91% and a negative return on equity of 18.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.68) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 43.5% during the second quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 70,898 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 21,498 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 66.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 794,437 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,038,000 after purchasing an additional 317,352 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 312,040 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 66,800 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 1,525.1% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 420,927 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $5,135,000 after buying an additional 395,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 270,221 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 73,517 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLF has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $12.80 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group set a $15.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Glj Research cut their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $9.52 to $9.42 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.89.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.