D.B. Root & Company LLC Acquires New Stake in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

D.B. Root & Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,000 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 69.3% in the first quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 45,500 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,620 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 74,825 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,692 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter worth about $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

NYSE CLF opened at $15.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.08. 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 50-day moving average of $16.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.99. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.84 and a 1-year high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves acquired 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,759,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,242,331.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Ben Oren bought 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,167 shares in the company, valued at $212,363.33. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired 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 owns 2,759,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,242,331.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 98,950 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,638. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CLF shares. Citigroup cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.44.

Cleveland-Cliffs 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.