Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Raised to "Hold" at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Cleveland-Cliffs has been upgraded to a "hold" rating by Wells Fargo, with analysts citing various target price adjustments from other firms ranging from $10.00 to $17.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings surprise, posting a loss of ($0.50) per share, which beat analyst expectations by $0.18, alongside a 7.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Insider transactions reveal that EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares, decreasing his ownership by 19.60%, highlighting active insider trading amidst changes in stock ratings.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. KeyCorp upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.96.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:CLF opened at $10.56 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 1.99. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $8.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 2.04. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52 week low of $5.63 and a 52 week high of $14.34.

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

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total transaction of $822,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 492,249 shares in the company, valued at $3,371,905.65. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 131.3% in the 2nd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,070 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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