Morgan Stanley Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF)

Morgan Stanley restated their equal weight rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $20.00 price target on the mining company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CLF. Argus lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. TheStreet downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $20.30.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $22.74 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.07. The stock has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.02. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 12-month low of $13.61 and a 12-month high of $22.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The mining company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 1.81%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 2,699,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Arlene M. Yocum purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 218.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.