Brokerages Set Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) PT at $19.92

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.75.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. BNP Paribas cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Citigroup cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Argus cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.24 per share, with a total value of $506,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ron A. Bloom acquired 25,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,953.04. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,286 shares in the company, valued at $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $18.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $13.61 and a 1-year high of $22.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.00.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 1.78%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Cleveland-Cliffs’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.