Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target to $9.00

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $12.00 to $9.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the mining company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CLF. Citigroup raised their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley raised Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $12.80 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Glj Research reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $9.42 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.59.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

CLF opened at $7.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.67 and a beta of 1.99. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $16.70.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The mining company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.19. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 7.91% and a negative return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.68) EPS. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total value of $2,092,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,863,133.34. The trade was a 26.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total value of $37,260,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $722,318,000 after acquiring an additional 6,447,462 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.1% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,039,851 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $133,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

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.