Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) Stock Down Today as China Steel Output Shrinks

Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) stock is lower this afternoon as steel production in China is expected to shrink

Author:: Kurumi Fukushima
Publish date:: Mar 11, 2015 3:22 PM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) - Get Report are down 5.59% to $5.16 in afternoon trading Wednesday, along with other iron ore miners following comments on shrinking steel output by the China & Iron Steel Association.

The association, which is funded by China's major steelmakers and the only nationwide industry organization, said steel production in China will shrink this year as consumption has peaked, according to Bloomberg.

Deputy Secretary-General Li Xinchuang said at an iron ore conference in Australia earlier today that output is expected to contract to 814 million metric tons in 2015 from 823 million tons a year prior.

Last year, China grew at the weakest rate since 1990, and is poised to slow even more in 2015 due to a housing slump, Bloomberg added.

China accounts for half of global steel production, and is the world's biggest buyer of iron ore, Bloomberg noted.

Cleveland, OH-based Cliffs Natural Resources is an international mining and natural resources company.

The company is an iron ore producer and a producer of metallurgical coal with its operations organized according to product category and geographic location.

In the U.S., Cliffs operates five iron ore mines in Michigan and Minnesota, five metallurgical coal mines located in West Virginia and Alabama and one thermal coal mine located in West Virginia.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC as a Sell with a ratings score of D-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC (CLF) a SELL. This is driven by some concerns, which we believe should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks we cover. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, weak operating cash flow, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Metals & Mining industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 2986.8% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $43.30 million to -$1,250.00 million.
Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 65.29%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 4225.00% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.
Net operating cash flow has decreased to $254.90 million or 44.58% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite a decrease in cash flow CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC is still fairing well by exceeding its industry average cash flow growth rate of -57.49%.
CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past year. However, the consensus estimate suggests that this trend should reverse in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, CLIFFS NATURAL RESOURCES INC swung to a loss, reporting -$47.29 versus $2.33 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.10 versus -$47.29).
CLF, with its decline in revenue, underperformed when compared the industry average of 2.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues fell by 15.2%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: CLF Ratings Report