Quadrature Capital Ltd Lowers Holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Quadrature Capital Ltd trimmed its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 37,551 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 20,851 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,585,000. Peconic Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth $42,370,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,586,472 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $40,181,000 after buying an additional 1,568,961 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth $27,928,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 1,627.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,431,769 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $29,237,000 after buying an additional 1,348,893 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 0.9 %

Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $14.80 on Friday. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.84 and a 1-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 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.06.

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 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.11) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ben Oren acquired 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.99 per share, with a total value of $100,433.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,363.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ron A. Bloom acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. B. Riley lowered their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. BNP Paribas cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.79.

Cleveland-Cliffs 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.