Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Given New $18.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price target reduced by Bank of America from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the mining company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CLF. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wolfe Research restated an underperform rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $19.44.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $14.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.08. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 12-month low of $13.84 and a 12-month high of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. purchased 7,250 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.98 per share, for a total transaction of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,142.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. bought 7,250 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.98 per share, for a total transaction of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,709,142.76. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $839,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth approximately $2,188,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 108.7% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 343,465 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 178,864 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 626,207 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $12,787,000 after buying an additional 72,185 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently 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.