B. Riley Reiterates Buy Rating for Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF)

B. Riley reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $17.00 target price on the mining company's stock, down from their prior target price of $20.00. B. Riley also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs' Q1 2025 earnings at ($0.89) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.30) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.06 EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($1.17) EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at ($0.03) EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.02 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.02 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.02 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $0.03 EPS.

CLF has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Glj Research cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.49.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $7.90. 13,650,951 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,309,473. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.14 and a beta of 1.93. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $6.17 and a 1-year high of $18.20.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, EVP Keith Koci bought 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 543,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,874,964.75. This represents a 1.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jane M. Cronin bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.56 per share, for a total transaction of $105,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,952.32. The trade was a 68.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Slate Path Capital LP increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company's stock worth $152,355,000 after buying an additional 4,239,000 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,382,769 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $69,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236,247 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 105.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 262,771 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 134,939 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $18,999,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company's stock worth $458,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,332 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.