B. Riley Cuts Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target to $24.00

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at B. Riley from $25.00 to $24.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the mining company’s stock. B. Riley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 32.89% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CLF. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.58.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $18.06 on Tuesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52-week low of $13.61 and a 52-week 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.87 and its 200 day moving average is $19.05. The company has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $553,811.70. Following the completion of 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $553,811.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at $10,793,917.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,824 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,507 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 56,347 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $881,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings 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 valued at $8,659,000 after purchasing an additional 125,884 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.