Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $14.00 to $9.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the mining company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 5.30% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on CLF. Citigroup dropped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $12.50 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.10.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:CLF opened at $9.50 on Thursday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $7.73 and a 1-year high of $16.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.51 and a 200 day moving average of $11.33. The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of -4.06 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The mining company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.04. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 6.42% and a negative return on equity of 15.48%. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.92) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, EVP Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. sold 214,308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total value of $2,873,870.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 184,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,474,708.22. This trade represents a 53.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $722,318,000 after acquiring an additional 6,447,462 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.2% during the 4th 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 holdings in shares of 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,207 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $130,873,000 after purchasing an additional 925,031 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.1% in 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 during 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.