Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Down 6.9% – Time to Sell?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price traded down 6.9% on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $12.63 and last traded at $13.1260. Approximately 8,713,336 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 18,850,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.10.

More Cleveland-Cliffs News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cleveland-Cliffs this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong third-quarter turnaround: Cleveland-Cliffs reported $5.6 billion in revenue, $165 million in GAAP net income and $612 million in adjusted EBITDA. Earnings of $0.28 per share exceeded the $0.24 analyst consensus, while revenue increased 18.5% year over year. Cleveland-Cliffs Posts Strongest Quarter in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Optimistic 2027 outlook: Management expects adjusted EBITDA to exceed $4 billion in 2027, supported by stronger steel prices, improved operations and contract renewals that could contribute roughly $1 billion of EBITDA. The outlook fueled Monday’s rally and remains the primary bullish catalyst. Cleveland-Cliffs forecasts 2027 adjusted EBITDA above $4B
• Positive Sentiment: Improving technical and valuation signals: CLF moved above its 20-day moving average, suggesting stronger near-term momentum. Several analyses also characterized the stock as attractively valued relative to potential future earnings. Cleveland-Cliffs Overtook the 20-Day Moving Average
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy options activity: Traders bought 106,413 call options, approximately 133% above average daily volume, indicating elevated speculative interest but not guaranteeing further gains.
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking after a major advance: The stock retreated as investors locked in gains from Monday’s roughly 16% surge after the earnings release. The move suggests enthusiasm around the outlook may have been partially priced in.
• Negative Sentiment: Results were not uniformly strong: Quarterly revenue of $5.61 billion came in slightly below the $5.69 billion consensus, and the company continues to carry meaningful leverage. Investors may therefore remain sensitive to steel prices, execution and the delivery of the ambitious 2027 forecast.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CLF. Barclays upped their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.00 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $14.00 target price on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $13.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Glj Research upped their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.60 to $17.48 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.20.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.29.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The mining company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.69 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 13.37% and a negative net margin of 4.56%. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.51) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $522,766,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,207 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $130,873,000 after acquiring an additional 925,031 shares during the last quarter. PointState Capital LP bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter valued at about $61,805,000. Avala Global LP bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter valued at about $58,325,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 208.2% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,021,829 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $56,545,000 after purchasing an additional 4,067,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is an integrated North American steel producer headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The company operates across the steelmaking value chain, from mining and processing iron ore to producing and distributing finished steel products. Its operations include iron ore mines and pelletizing facilities, steel mills, finishing plants, and related manufacturing and distribution assets.

The company produces carbon steel, stainless steel, electrical steel, and other specialty products, including hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel.