Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Downgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CLF. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.75.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLF opened at $17.88 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.05. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $13.61 and a 1-year high of $22.97. The company has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,953.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $553,811.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $117,585,000. Peconic Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,370,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $40,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,961 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,988,689 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $31,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,928,000. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.