Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Receives $19.92 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.75.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CLF shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Argus downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $3,778,275.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at $54,494,606.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $3,778,275.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 178.5% during the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 39,731 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 25,465 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 14,450 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.2% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 160,039 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,639,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 325,637 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $7,405,000 after buying an additional 20,464 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter worth about $1,557,000. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $17.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $13.61 and a one year high of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.99.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.