Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.44.

CLF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF opened at $15.94 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.92. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $13.84 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. Cleveland-Cliffs’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. bought 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.98 per share, for a total transaction of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,709,142.76. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Ben Oren bought 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $212,363.33. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. purchased 7,250 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $108,605.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,709,142.76. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 98,950 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,638 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,053 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 216,359 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,249,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,850 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,151 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.