Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus analyst rating of "Reduce" from 10 brokerages, with two sell ratings, seven holds, and one buy; the average 12-month price target is about $11.77.
• Recent analyst actions were mostly cautious, including price-target cuts from Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, while Glj Research and Weiss Ratings reiterated sell calls.
• The company reported better-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of -$0.40 versus estimates of -$0.44 and revenue of $4.92 billion versus $4.84 billion expected, even as profitability remained negative.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.7689.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Glj Research reissued a "sell" rating and set a $9.42 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Argus raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Friday, April 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total value of $2,092,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at $5,863,133.34. The trade was a 26.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Edilson Camara purchased 19,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.13 per share, with a total value of $199,561.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,287.79. This trade represents a 88.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company's stock worth $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,278,156 shares of the mining company's stock worth $388,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632,150 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $240,143,000 after buying an additional 15,393,507 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,207 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $130,873,000 after buying an additional 925,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.1% in the fourth quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,358,230 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $164,117,000 after buying an additional 5,855,830 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company's stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

CLF opened at $11.03 on Friday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $5.63 and a twelve month high of $16.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of -4.71 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $9.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.52.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The mining company reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 6.42% and a negative return on equity of 15.48%. The business's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.92) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company's integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.

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