First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stake in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. $CLF

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 36.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 199,349 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,246 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $1,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CLF. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $240,143,000 after acquiring an additional 15,393,507 shares during the last quarter. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at $96,280,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.1% during the 4th quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,358,230 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $164,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,855,830 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,450,442 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $208,623,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,807 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. sold 214,308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total value of $2,873,870.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 184,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,474,708.22. This trade represents a 53.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CLF shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $12.50 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.00 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.86.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $12.27 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of -7.57 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.73 and a 12 month high of $16.70.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The mining company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.01. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 13.37% and a negative net margin of 4.56%.The business had revenue of $5.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.50) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.