Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target Cut to $10.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $13.00 to $10.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the mining company’s stock.

CLF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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 research report on Friday, January 9th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Argus raised Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.69.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF stock opened at $9.45 on Tuesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $16.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.89 and its 200 day moving average is $11.86. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.24 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 18.94% and a negative net margin of 7.91%.The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.68) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Edilson Camara purchased 19,700 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.13 per share, for a total transaction of $199,561.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,983 shares in the company, valued at $425,287.79. The trade was a 88.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,863,133.34. This represents a 26.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 281.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,308,271 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $28,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703,791 shares during the last quarter. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth approximately $10,932,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth approximately $9,171,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 17.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,010,913 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $97,733,000 after buying an additional 1,195,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phocas Financial Corp. lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 474,862 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,306,000 after buying an additional 151,868 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.