Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CLF. Argus lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. BNP Paribas lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $16.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an underperform rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $20.75.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 1.9 %

CLF opened at $17.88 on Friday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $13.61 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.91 and a 200-day moving average of $18.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.11) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Arlene M. Yocum acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 94,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,899,637.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total transaction of $132,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 90,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,585,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,037,507 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $82,446,000 after purchasing an additional 334,739 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,542,004 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $72,328,000 after purchasing an additional 194,948 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,735,603 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,757,000 after purchasing an additional 236,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $40,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.