Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.75.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BNP Paribas downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arlene M. Yocum bought 2,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 94,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,899,637.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at $54,494,606.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF opened at $17.88 on Friday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $22.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.91 and a 200 day moving average of $18.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.