Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.43.

Several research firms have recently commented on CLF. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Glj Research reduced their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of CLF stock opened at $6.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.04 and a 200-day moving average of $11.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.13 and a beta of 1.94. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52-week low of $6.17 and a 52-week high of $22.67.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 543,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,874,964.75. This trade represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,952.32. This trade represents a 68.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Estabrook Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,600 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, AllSquare Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.