Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Up 6.1% – Still a Buy?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price shot up 6.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $13.34 and last traded at $13.4810. 5,124,184 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 25,163,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $14.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.78.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 1.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The mining company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.03. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 9.00% and a negative return on equity of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.33) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 4,315.6% during the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 819.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 2,392 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,768 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.