Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CLF. TheStreet lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Argus lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $16.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of CLF stock opened at $17.88 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1 year low of $13.61 and a 1 year high of $22.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arlene M. Yocum bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.02 per share, for a total transaction of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 94,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,899,637.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.24 per share, with a total value of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 94,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $117,585,000. Peconic Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $42,370,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $40,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,961 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,988,689 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $31,083,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,928,000. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company 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.