Analysts Set Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Target Price at $19.92

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.75.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CLF shares. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BNP Paribas lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 1.3 %

CLF stock opened at $18.31 on Friday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.97 and its 200-day moving average is $19.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.11) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Arlene M. Yocum purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at $1,899,637.74. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at $117,585,000. Peconic Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth about $42,370,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 154.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,928,000. Hedge funds and other 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.