Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.43.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CLF shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Glj Research reduced their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director John T. Baldwin bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 133,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,159,074.90. The trade was a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares in the company, valued at $5,874,964.75. This trade represents a 1.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 over the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1,151.4% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 150,037 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 138,047 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth approximately $407,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 9,170.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 69,995 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 69,240 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,298,868 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $12,209,000 after purchasing an additional 242,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1,212.0% in the 4th quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 1,018,950 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $9,578,000 after purchasing an additional 941,284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 11.3 %

NYSE:CLF opened at $8.71 on Tuesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $8.51 and a one year high of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.97 and a beta of 1.94.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.