StockNews.com Downgrades Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) to Hold

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. TheStreet cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.75.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $18.25 on Friday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1 year low of $13.61 and a 1 year high of $22.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.99. The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released 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 company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, April 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 90,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 30.6% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 514,890 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,048,000 after acquiring an additional 120,540 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,988,689 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $31,083,000 after buying an additional 1,404,491 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth about $4,970,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth about $3,908,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 29.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 554,022 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,659,000 after purchasing an additional 125,884 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.