Citigroup Inc. Purchases 1,195,035 Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. $CLF

Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,010,913 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,195,035 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $97,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 2nd quarter worth about $63,731,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,120,000. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,357,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,450,442 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $208,623,000 after buying an additional 4,603,807 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 200.4% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,329,414 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $48,104,000 after buying an additional 4,222,528 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CLF. Morgan Stanley upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $12.80 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group set a $15.00 price target on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Glj Research dropped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $9.52 to $9.42 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total transaction of $2,092,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,863,133.34. This represents a 26.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $37,260,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 3.7%

NYSE:CLF opened at $10.66 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 1.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.29. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $16.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

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

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.