Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Cleveland-Cliffs shares reached a new 52-week high of $14.50 following an upgrade from Goldman Sachs, which increased its price target from $12.85 to $14.50.
• The company has received multiple ratings from analysts, including buy ratings from three analysts and a median target price of $11.60.
• Cleveland-Cliffs reported a quarterly earnings beat with a loss of ($0.50) per share, surpassing estimates, and revenue rose 7.5% year-over-year to $4.93 billion.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $12.85 to $14.50. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cleveland-Cliffs traded as high as $14.47 and last traded at $14.22, with a volume of 2390612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.90.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $8.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $9.50 to $12.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.9% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 135,600 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.1% during the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 26,480 shares of the mining company's stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.3% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 105,791 shares of the mining company's stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.5% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 297,128 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,258,000 after buying an additional 1,399 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 2.2%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $11.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.11. The company has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.16 and a beta of 1.96. 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 (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 9.03% and a negative return on equity of 17.97%. The business's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

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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