The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price reversed its year-to-date gains in June.
For the month, the iron ore producer's shares dropped 13% to finish at $17.53 on 30 June.
This was a worse performance than the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which declined 9% over the same timeframe.
And looking at the start of the new month, Fortescue shares are yet again tumbling today.
At the time of writing, the mining outfit's shares are down 2.05% to $17.17.
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What's caused Fortescue shares to plummet?
While it was a quiet month for the company, the deterioration of iron ore prices led Fortescue shares lower in June.
In particular, the steel making ingredient closed at a six-month low of US$127.92 per tonne last week. While there has been a slight rebound, it's still heavily down from when it was tracking around the US$146 mark earlier this month.
Currently, the price of iron ore is US$130 per tonne.
Furthermore, a wider fall across the ASX put severe selling pressure on the Fortescue share price.
The S&P/ASX 300 Metals and Mining (ASX: XMM) sector sank close to 15% in June.
This was brought upon by investor concerns regarding rampant inflation and aggressive rate hikes from the Reserve Bank of Australia.
What do the brokers think?
A couple of brokers rated Fortescue shares with varying price points at the beginning and end of the month.
As reported by ANZ Share Investing, the team at RBC Capital Markets raised its price target by 6% to $17.00 for Fortescue shares.
Based on today's price, this is relatively in line with the market's consensus.
However, last week, Morgan Stanley put out a more bearish note, slashing its rating by 11% to $14.20.
This implies a downside of 17% from where the Fortescue share price trades today.
Fortescue share price summary
Since the beginning of the calendar year, the Fortescue share price has continued to move in circles.
Down 10% for the period, this goes against the company's historical share price trends of triple-digit gains.
It's worth noting that Fortescue shares are not far off their 52-week low of $13.90 that was hit in October 2021.
On valuation grounds, Fortescue commands a market capitalisation of roughly $56.65 billion.
