Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $13.11, but opened at $12.21. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $11.74, with a volume of 5,711,130 shares trading hands.

The mining company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.02). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 0.21% and a return on equity of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CLF. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.56.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter worth about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 247.8% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 138.8% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 8.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.18 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.67 and its 200 day moving average is $14.65.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.