Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $20.85, but opened at $19.92. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $19.31, with a volume of 6,367,132 shares traded.

The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 1.81%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CLF. Argus downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. BNP Paribas downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, TheStreet cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $553,811.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $553,811.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum purchased 2,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 94,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at $117,585,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,037,507 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $82,446,000 after buying an additional 334,739 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,542,004 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $72,328,000 after buying an additional 194,948 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,735,603 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,757,000 after acquiring an additional 236,274 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $40,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,961 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 11.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.98. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03.

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.