Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Given “Sell” Rating at Glj Research

Glj Research reiterated their sell rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Glj Research currently has a $9.42 price objective on the mining company’s stock.

CLF has been the topic of several other reports. KeyCorp cut Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $12.80 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF opened at $8.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.99. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $5.63 and a fifty-two week high of $16.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.28.

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

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $37,260,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total value of $2,092,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at $5,863,133.34. This trade represents a 26.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,278,156 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $388,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632,150 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $240,143,000 after purchasing an additional 15,393,507 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.1% during the fourth quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,358,230 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $164,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,855,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,039,851 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $133,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

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.