Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Up 4.6%

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shares traded up 4.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $15.77 and last traded at $15.69. 3,659,936 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 8,812,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.44.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $16.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 2.08.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. purchased 7,250 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.98 per share, for a total transaction of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,142.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. bought 7,250 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.98 per share, for a total transaction of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,709,142.76. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.