Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 8,100 Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,600 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 8,100 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $3,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $117,585,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,037,507 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $82,446,000 after acquiring an additional 334,739 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,542,004 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $72,328,000 after acquiring an additional 194,948 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $40,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,961 shares during the period. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,103,314 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,950,000 after acquiring an additional 359,801 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of CLF opened at $14.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.84 and a 12 month high of $22.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.14.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,005,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,759,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,242,331.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,759,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,242,331.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CLF shares. Citigroup cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.79.

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.