Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Given New $12.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $16.80 to $12.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the mining company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. KeyCorp started coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $9.42 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Argus raised Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.19.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 6.1%

CLF opened at $9.13 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.75. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $5.63 and a twelve month high of $16.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.90 and a beta of 1.91.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The mining company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.84 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 15.48% and a negative net margin of 6.42%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.92) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Edilson Camara acquired 19,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $425,287.79. This trade represents a 88.41% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the business’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 value of $2,092,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,863,133.34. This represents a 26.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% during 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 period. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,280,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $164,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,855,830 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,450,442 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $208,623,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,807 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Cleveland-Cliffs this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat — CLF reported EPS of -$0.40 (vs. -$0.44 consensus), revenue of ~$4.9B and adjusted EBITDA of $95M while shipments rose, showing demand resilience and an improving quarter‑over‑quarter performance. BusinessWire Q1 Release
• Positive Sentiment: Near‑term pricing and cash initiatives — management expects Q2 selling prices to be roughly $60/ton higher and is targeting ~$$425M in cash from idled property actions, which could meaningfully lift margins if realized. Seeking Alpha Pricing/Cash Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst stance retains upside — Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $12 from $16.80 but kept an “overweight” rating, implying material upside from current levels and signaling some analyst confidence in recovery potential. TickerReport on MS PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Detailed commentary available — the full Q1 earnings call transcript and slide deck are published for investors to assess management’s tone on cost dynamics, pricing, and strategic priorities. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Energy cost shock — an $80M one‑time energy expense tied to extreme cold materially reduced Q1 results and highlights volatility in input costs; investors punished the stock despite the beats. Yahoo: $80M Energy Cost
• Negative Sentiment: Strategic and profitability concerns — management’s comments (e.g., “no longer in a hurry” on the Posco deal) plus continued negative net margins and a GAAP loss left some investors questioning the near‑term path to sustained profitability. Market commentary frames the report as a narrow beat but not enough to restore confidence. Seeking Alpha on Strategic Doubts

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.