Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 54,300,000 shares, a growth of 22.9% from the November 30th total of 44,170,000 shares. Currently, 11.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 13,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $13.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.22.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,429,000 after acquiring an additional 134,939 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth about $64,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,222,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,444,000. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.9% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 206,750 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,640,000 after buying an additional 45,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

NYSE CLF traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $9.51. The stock had a trading volume of 8,795,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,815,186. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.99. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $8.99 and a one year high of $22.97. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.80 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The mining company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.