Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Down 8.8% After Insider Selling

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s share price fell 8.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $11.23 and last traded at $11.3840. 8,586,527 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 17,707,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.48.

Specifically, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $37,260,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CLF shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Glj Research reduced their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $9.52 to $9.42 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $12.80 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.89.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of -3.90 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.95 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) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.68) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter worth $63,731,000. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,280,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% in 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the second quarter worth $44,120,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $208,623,000 after buying an additional 4,603,807 shares during the period. 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.