Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.44.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CLF. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

NYSE:CLF opened at $15.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $13.84 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.80.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.11) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,005,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,759,089 shares in the company, valued at $46,242,331.64. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,005,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,759,089 shares in the company, valued at $46,242,331.64. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. acquired 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $108,605.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 314,362 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,142.76. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 98,950 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,638 in the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth $117,585,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,037,507 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $82,446,000 after purchasing an additional 334,739 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,542,004 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $72,328,000 after purchasing an additional 194,948 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.8% during the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,374,716 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,741,000 after acquiring an additional 410,182 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 10.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,884,249 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $65,589,000 after acquiring an additional 275,265 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

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.