Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Receives “Buy” Rating from B. Riley

B. Riley reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $23.00 target price on the mining company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Cleveland-Cliffs from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup cut 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. BNP Paribas cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $16.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an underperform rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $19.64.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CLF opened at $14.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 2.08. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $13.84 and a 1-year high of $22.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.04.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released 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). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ben Oren bought 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.99 per share, with a total value of $100,433.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 14,167 shares in the company, valued at $212,363.33. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. acquired 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 314,362 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,142.76. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ben Oren acquired 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,363.33. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 98,950 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,638 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,053 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 216,359 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,850 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 11.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,151 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.