Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $9.13 and last traded at $9.21, with a volume of 5881481 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of 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 target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.22.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.06.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. 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 negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The company had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 134,939 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth approximately $1,222,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,444,000. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.9% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 206,750 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,640,000 after acquiring an additional 45,150 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.