Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target Raised to $12.50 at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America raised its price target for Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) from $9.50 to $12.50, indicating a potential upside of 5% from its previous closing price.
• Despite the recent upgrade, the company has received mixed reviews from analysts, with ratings ranging from a "strong sell" by Glj Research to "overweight" by KeyCorp.
• Cleveland-Cliffs reported a quarterly earnings loss of ($0.50) EPS, which was an improvement over analyst estimates, and a revenue increase of 7.5% year-over-year, totaling $4.93 billion.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $9.50 to $12.50 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the mining company's stock. Bank of America's price target suggests a potential upside of 5.00% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Glj Research downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating and set a $3.91 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Cleveland-Cliffs from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.24.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of CLF traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $11.91. 14,471,678 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,384,271. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $14.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a PE ratio of -3.49 and a beta of 1.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.31 and a 200-day moving average of $8.79.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The mining company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.18. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 17.97% and a negative net margin of 9.03%.The firm's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 135,600 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 26,480 shares of the mining company's stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 105,791 shares of the mining company's stock worth $870,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 297,128 shares of the mining company's stock worth $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 56,665 shares of the mining company's stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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