Traders Buy High Volume of Cleveland-Cliffs Call Options (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 57,853 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 43% compared to the average volume of 40,382 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CLF. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. KeyCorp cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $9.42 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.59.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 26.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total value of $37,260,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 4,315.6% in the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 117.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 94.0% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,505 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 306.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $8.02 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of -2.75 and a beta of 1.99. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $16.70.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The mining company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.60 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 7.91% and a negative return on equity of 18.94%. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.68) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.